Monday, April 26, 2010

Guess you're wondering why I wasnt at the Australasias.... :(

Well well well.... What has the cat dragged us in? A Figure competitor with a vision, a game plan, a goal and left feeling like a failure... Thats right, thats how I feel. How can such a positive, self motivated, goal driven person feel like a failure.... Believe it or not, it happens to us too. Thats why I have actually planned this time to talk about the way I feel and get it off my chest, cos there is soo many of you asking me what happened to me and why wasnt I on stage. The story goes like this.
Unhappily married, was once in love, but grew apart and had different visions for the future... so different that we couldnt even compromise. So we were seperated and lived our lives. I chose the Figure life... Being such a strong person, having the, I can do anything attitude, I though contest prep was a piece of cake. Im a mother of twins, had my pt business, built my nutrition website, was studying by business degree, come on, contest prep was easy...
Yeah right... Little did I know my mindset had to be clear and focused. When the tough started happening, the emotion started building and being a female so did the emotional eating... It was so hard. My training was perfect, that was the time I was releasing the stress. I could do the 5 am track workout, sprints, stairs, cardio etc and had the day sorted with my meals, weights done by lunch, 2nd cardio session at night etc and the everyday routine but came the weekend, that was an emotional crisis for me.
Cut a long story short, I couldnt handle the weekends. I would eat my breakfast and because I ate some peanut butter I would starve myself for the rest of the day cos I felt guilty building up to hungry appetite and eating extra calories by dinner time... This happened for 4 weeks... That was it... I decided I couldnt live like this. I was building up to an eating disorder, something I never had. Just cos I was unhappy.... Within 1 month, I decided to sell my house, sell my car, close my pt business, pack my stuff, get my kids, drop my dream of competing at the Australasias and start a new life overseas....Alone to follow my dream of being a figure athlete...
Ya reckon you can do that? I tell ya it takes guts, but mind you I was living overseas for 5 years before hand so I new where I was going. I had family.
So thats why I wasnt on stage, but mind you it doesnt finish there. I found out that the their was going to be the Cypriot Grand Prix on April 17th so I thought, Ill go to Cyprus and prep for that show... If I was good enough and placed I would've represented Cyprus at the European Cup in May... Now tell me thats not something to aim for. I was so excited, met the right people to help me in the industry and had the best help here. Unfortunately, it started with the cold that lasted a lifetime, had a root canal done (and I had just fixed my teeth before I came), gained 8kg water retention, the change of weather and the long hours travelling and the stress I had accumulated from before didnt let me compete at that show either. One dad thing after the other. 3 weeks out I was admitted in hospital and was in there for 10 days with Glandular Fever....wtf... you get this virus when your a student not 30... They released me the day of the Cypriot Bodybuilding Show and lucky enough I managed to go and have a look. Not the same as the Australian shows but something that can be built on.. Nevertheless, atleast there are comps here and its a recognised sport... Yeah amazing!
I felt like shit when I was watching that show. I failed to complete the Australasians, failed to complete the Cypriot Grand Prix and even failed to complete The Olympus Grand Prix in Thessaloniki in May.... My immune system beat me, it put me 10 steps behind to where I even started. Im feeling like shit cos Im still in bed trying to recover, I needed another 6 weeks after being released so the fevers stop and training can start slowly...
Everybody tells me to rest up and Ill come in stronger.... Well put yourself in my shoes... Im a fitness professional, I know I need to recover but Im a competitive athlete, tell an athlete to rest on their prime.... Aaaarrrrrgggghhhhhh!!!!!! Thats how I feel.
I learnt my lesson, never cut your dreams in half. No matter who or what comes in your way, when you have a goal you remain focused and complete you goal. Blocks and barriers are meant to happen on the way of accomplishment... I learnt it the hard way... Now I found the inner strength inside of me and Ive decided to change cities... Once an Australian, always an Australian, need my beach surroundings... New life, new people, new home, new job, new friends, just me and my girls.... There will be another comp for me, and I will come in my best shape ever... I know that, I just have to set my priorities straight now, so everything else just rolls into place.... Hmmm that feels better, so thats why I wasnt at the Australasians friends and the girls that were there may have been happy I didnt show up, it looked like a good lineup and congratulations to all of them cos they're all champions in my eyes....
Set your goals, focus, battle and accomplish..... Never give up!!!
Train hard, eat clean and stay sexy!!! Froso

Friday, January 8, 2010

13 Weeks out from the IFBB Sunshine Coast Show..

Happy New Year and may this year bring to you all Love, Happiness, Success, Prosperity, Great Friends, Great business proposals and most importantly Health. This is the year of the Tiger, Grrr to all us Tigers!

We're 13 weeks out from the IFBB Sunshine Coast Show and 14 weeks out from the Australasias... I found out last night some people that will be competing in my lineup and want to wish them all the best for there prep. Lets enjoy the journey and rock that stage!

My diet hasnt changed much from offseason just yet, having in mind I eat healthy all year round with 1 or 2 cheat meals a week. Im eating egg whites with oats, yummy, for breakfast, still having protein shakes, tuna and chicken breast as my sources of protein and lots of green veges including broccoli, capsicum, celery, cucumbers, zucchini and lettuce also brown rice. I like to use olive oil as my fat sources. This is what my mealplan consists of 13 weeks out and I know Jon will chop things out as we get closer and depending on how lean Im getting... So my diet is still fun at the moment. I am enjoying it.

I started this morning with 40 minutes cardio on my treadmill. Pumped up the music and was walking to the beat, and the girls playing downstairs with my boxing gloves and focus pads. Its so good watching them enjoy living a fit lifestyle. My personal training clients know that Im child friendly and thats one reason I do PT at home in the studio downstairs so I can have my children with me. They ARE the reason Im here!

I havent started to do weights yet on Saturdays so I take advantage of the day off and throw in Stair Climbs. I do the stairs at the Springwood Conservation Park and at the top of the stairs there is a small playground for the children. Im going to have to take them today for the first time as it is Saturday and there isnt any Kindy on. Its going to be FUN! Knowing my Mini Me's, they love a challenge and they know that exercise keeps them fit and healthy, they'll probably tackle the stairs with me. Ill let you know how we go.

I want to share that now Im a qualified Nutrition Coach I will be working onboard with Monica Brant's and Joanne Lee's Team. I am waiting to get my Venice Nutrition Website online and will be working towards living the lifestyle of Healthy Eating. Its not Comp Prep and for that I would refer you to Jon Davies, he's the Pro.
I will be able to help you lose weight, gain lean muscle mass & keep lean during offseason. Its an online program and when its up I would love for you to have a look, Im sure you will love it as much as I do.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

X-mas has passed, NY is round the corner!

Merry Christmas everybody! Did you have a great time with your friends and family? Did you enjoy the food on the buffet table? Did it feel good to relax? Did you remember what Christmas really is and spent a moment to think that its the day Christ was born? I hope you answered YES to all those questions!

For me it was a quiet one. We planned to go to the beach after our Xmas lunch but the weather was horrible... Storm season sucks when you're on holidays. We couldnt even light the barbie, thats how bad the weather was and it went all week! I spent most my time with my children at home, relaxing, training and catching up with the little ones...
They loved it and so did I... Baskin & Robbins was on closed so I thought Id visit them on Boxing day.. It was very enjoyable!

Everybody at the gym is complaining how much they ate, and how they've gained all this weight and are waiting for the New Year to burn it off.. Im like, Duh, you're in the gym burning it off, good on you for exercising at this time and putting it behind you and moving on. I've had comments that its New Years and thats it, New Year Resolution is not to go crazy on food anymore, eat healthy from now on, exercise every day, no more chocolate, no more alcohol, Ive heard it all....
Ok, listen up, Stop Stop Stop!!! Stop setting yourself up for failure... Let me help you set your health & fitness goals the way I set them, so you maintain and live a healthy lifestyle...

Forget the, Im not doing this anymore. Guaranteed within the next 24hours you will be doing exactly that.
Forget the, going to the gym everyday. Yeah right, and if you dont go one day, you'll get upset because you didnt make, then you missed another day, and another and before you know it, you're paying for a gym membership and you're not even using it.
Forget the, Im not eating anymore chocolate or junk food. Who said gym junkies dont have cheat meals?

I hope you're still reading this and ready to change your terms in your vocabulary, not only to succeed in YOUR health & fitness goals, but to help motivate & train your friends and family also... You cant change everybody, but you can help your friends and family...

This is how it goes for me. Adapt to living a healthy lifestyle and include your cheat meals... You may want to eat 1 a week, or maybe you want 4 a week, each individual is different. I have 1 or 2 cheats a week, because I enjoy eating healthy food, Ive learnt to experiment with different herbs and spices to change all my food up, depending on what I feel like.. I like munching on celery, capsicum, carrots, cucumber, lettuce, cauliflower and tomatoes.. You know why? Cos I hate cooking. Lol! Veges are ready in the fridge, I give them a wash and down they go.. Quick and easy and no washing up. Kids love them also. They want to eat what mummy is eating..
If you say you're not going to eat any more junk again, and you do, once twice 3 times, you will probably end up giving up and going back to you unhealthy habits. If you adjust to a healthy eating lifestyle, and have your cheats, and get back on track to eating healthy then you're mission is accomplished... You will feel absolutely amazing. I hope this point will help you as much as it changed my life.

Going to the gym every day, you dont need to go the the gym everyday, unless you are serious about your training and an elite athlete. Most people dont want to do Bodybuilding or Figure competitions, they just want to live a healthy lifestyle and that's fine. Plan to exercise from the night before. Before you go to bed, write on a piece of paper what you have to do and plan to go to the gym, walk, swim, yoga, pilates, whatever you enjoy. I like training in the morning, that way its out of the way and I can do whatever I have to do without thinking during the day, OMG I have to train... Honestly, if you do 100 mins per week of Cardio, and that can be divided into 2x50mins, 3x35mins, 5x20mins, 20x5mins, up to you everybody lives a different lifestyle and 2 weight training sessions a week you are reducing your chances of heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and obesity. Better quality of life guaranteed. Invest in a qualified personal trainer, that walks the talk for your New Year Resolution's Health & Fitness Goals.

Let me know how you go and I hope you all have a wonderful New Year, God bless you and you're family, live life to the Max and keep smiling!
Froso xo

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

3 Sleeps till Xmas!!

How many of us are dreading Christmas lunch with our families? Scared of those extra calories and dreading the extra cardio your going to have to do to burn it off?
We all know to burn fat we have to sweat and reduce our caloric intake.. Right? Yeah well its true..
I decided this year Im not doing the family thing for Christmas... Im doing my own thing because coming from a Greek-Cypriot family, FOOD is our middle name... Its so hard when they have traditional foods on the buffet table including keftedes(meatballs), pastitsio(pasta bake with bechamel sauce), dolmades(stuffed vine leaves), afelia(pork, I dont know what else is in this dish, all I know its sooo oily and tastes soooo good, so I dont want to learn how to make it), freshly baked home made bread that my grandmother makes with tzantziki yoghurt, taramosalata dip, potato salad, pasta salad CARBS CARBS CARBS... The list goes on and if you know any Greek families you know how much food they cook when they're cooking for a party...
Its sooo hard to resist temptation, especially when everybody is eating everything and trays go around and they're offering you continuously. How many times can you say, "No thankyou." I have a little bit of a sweet tooth, I havent even mentioned any sweets yet, we just wont go there.
You know what the funny thing is, they get offended if you take your own food with you... Yes thats true, its a cultural thing, there is NO WAY Im going to a Christmas family function and take my tupperware that consists of chicken and broccoli with me. No way Hosay!! So Ive decided since Im dieting for the Australasians Im taking my girls out for Lunch or Im going to have a BBQ at my house, and then head to the beach for Christmas this year... Im not going to restrict myself from eating, I actually cant wait to hit Baskins & Robbins, but I will be able to choose a healthy option without the excess calories and temptations. Its easier when you dont have 20 people saying to you, "just have one, it wont do anything to you." If you are with a croud for a long time, you tend to follow what they do. Imagine somebody that has bad eating habits and you're talking to them and they are consistently picking. What do you do? Pick aswell...
Now for me its easy to stay away for Christmas, but you might not be able to get out if it so I suggest you enjoy yourself without feeling bad, take a couple of protein shakes with you and have them in between meals so they hold you fuller for longer. Make sure your plate consists of either a piece of chicken, meat, steak, lamb, pork and add salads...Go crazy on your vegetables... Full of antioxidants and fibre... Good stuff they are! Drink lots of water, it is very important you keep your body hydrated, especially after having a few drinks. When its dessert time, put a small piece, no need to eat the whole mudcake because its there. Its ok to eat it, aslong as its a piece... Eat it slow and enjoy it... Remember, your fat cos you ate it.. YOU can control what goes in to determine your shape...
After Christmas, it is important to get back on track without feeling like crap. Its ok, we've all been there were we feel like shit the next day and continue eating because we think, "Oh well I stuffed up yesterday so stuff all this." No its not like that, you deserve to eat a treat meal because you work hard all week at the gym and watch what you eat all week. Just get back on track and continue working hard... Its going to be a blast and we're all going to have a great day...
Merry Christmas everybody and enjoy your day with your family...
Froso xo

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

A new date has been set for the IFBB Australasian Titles in 2010. It will be held April 18th. We are still 17 weeks out so that means we have plenty of time to start dieting.
I want to share my good friends website, www.nickyjankovic.com
Nicky is a great great person both inside and out. She is a role model in the fitness industry and works as a personal trainer inspiring people to live a healthy lifestyle. Drop by her site and join the forum, its free! Great tips and advice from the champion herself. Join her members area to see videos of Nicky working out and cooking!
Im finding it a little difficult to write on my blog every night so Im going to try blog once or twice a week, until we get closer to the comp. There will be another comp on April 10th at the Sunny Sunshine coast which I will take part in that aswell. So we are 16 weeks out.
Now that doesnt mean Im going to sit and pig out cos I still have plenty of time, Im just not going to do 1 hour of cardio, 7 days a week... I will continue following my eating plan but lower the frequency and time of cardio... I will do 5 days cardio for 40 mins till we are 12 weeks out then I will increase my cardio...
I will see you soon, till then make sure you check out Nicky's page and any questions please email me or facebook me.
Live life xo

Monday, December 14, 2009

Shoulders on Monday

I have been so energetic today its crazy. I decided not to do cardio this morning cos we had an early weight session so I wanted to save my energy. Monday is shoulder day! Oh, how I love to train shoulders.
Since we're training to grow shoulders we, (Elisha, my training partner and I) are lifting heavy weight with little reps. I like to do 2 warmup sets on each exercise for shoulders and I really take time warming shoulders up as they're easy to injure and thats the last thing I need. Then I do 2-3 working sets on each exercise. Love the pump from shoulders! ;)
We did cardio on the elliptical machine and boy time went fast. I hadnt seen Elisha all weekend so we had so much catching up to do. We're training at Go Health this week, music is loud, and 2 chicks on the elliptical gas-bagging laughing their heads off... We love it, hope they do to!
I find it really easy to do cardio with someone to talk to. Low intensity cardio that is. And if I dont have anyone to talk to Im always downloading really good house/dance/techno tunes to my ipod. Good music is always great to listen too when the music at the gym sucks.
Im cruising with my diet at the moment, I still have peanut butter and yoghurt and cottage cheese but I know they will be gone tomorrow. I see Jonathon Davies, IFBB Pro Bodybuilder for all my contest prep. He is the guru and I would recommend him to everybody. Down to earth , cool guy that knows his stuff.
www.prepared2win.com.au
Girls where in kindy today so that gave me time to study. Cooked dinner and prepared my meals for tomorrow before I picked them up. I try to do all my cooking before I get them so when they come home, I spend time with them and dinner is ready. I learnt today that 100gms of raw chicken is 70 gms cooked. Thats going to save me so much time now. I'll cook it all ahead and weigh it at each meal, rather than cook everyday and put each meal in its own Tupperware. Save some space in the fridge also..
Woot woot, Im so excited! I get to see Jon tomorrow. Get my skinfolds done and see where Im at 14 weeks out. Might not have to drop the peanut butter just yet if Im lucky!! Ill put some pics up soon. See where we start and where we go. Amazing how the body changes.
Time to rest, need my beauty sleep.
Hope your living life,
Froso :)

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Sunday Funday!

Without having a date set, Im pretty sure we are 14 weeks out from the Australasias. Id rather be ready earlier than have to speed my prep up.
Today being Sunday Funday I took the girls shopping, went for a swim on the sunny Gold Coast and had fish and chips down the park (not me, I had a a protein shake and some almonds).... Sounds like fun, YES!
Since mummy is going to be busy in the new year its really important for me to spend as much quality time with my family as I can. I found that the last comp I did, being my first comp I didnt know, it was hard and now I know so Im coming in prepared. Tonight, being Sunday night, I sit down with my diary and plan my week. Im training at the same time, cardio at the same time, weights same time, childcare same time, eat same time, clients same time and the list goes on... It may sound boring living a life with a routine but when you are doing something you love and are passionate about its not boring. I learnt that having time management skills, its helped me to stay on track, I know when I have free time to book things in and Im more organised... Time is precious, wish there was more time in a day...
Today was a relaxing day I spent with my family and they deserve it....
Good nite and live life,
Froso