with roughly 8 weeks to go

I'm having both good and bad days! The weather here has been crazy..wind storms, rain storms, amazingly hot sunny days etc., it has been impacting my body and my mood...the cooler weather makes me miserable....it's June and I'm still wearing a winter jacket or multiple layers because I'm freezing my ass off...by now it should be HOT..hell, we're on the brink of summer! I'm sick and tired of walking around with perma-goosebumps...lol... ah, what can you do...before I know it, I'll be bitching about the heat.

These days, I am truly exhausted...the diet and cardio are taking their toll on me. Not to mention all the travelling, it is very tiring. I now have some time to stay home and relax before my next journey...and I do need it! Unfortunately, I have been suffering from these weird tremor/spasms in my calf muscles...they do not hurt, but they make it look like I have something crawling under my skin...it is very creepy! There are a few doctors who train at the same gym I do, so I asked one of them about it...apparently they can be caused by a few different things so..through the process of elimination, I think I may have solved the problem....or atleast temporarily. As long as they do not hinder my prep, I can deal with them :)

Somehow, every year I feel the urge to do some, as I call it, therapeutic baking...I bake a variety of different desserts/treats usually and give it all away. I do not have any desire to eat any of it, I just love the smell! I honestly spent the last three days in the kitchen...can you imagine? I spend hours creating new recipes and experimenting with them...some turn out and some don't. I'm not sure if I'm subconsciously testing my own will power or what the deal is, but as you know I have a serious obsession with food. I've actually been dreaming up recipe ideas...I wake up with them and write them down. In the last few days, I have made rocky road bars, caramel squares, oat fudge bars (with real homemade fudge in the middle), pumpkin gingerbread loaf, a frozen peanut butter pie that is so calorie loaded that each piece could induce a heart attack...lol....the ingredients include a full jar of peanut butter, 1 liter of whipping cream, a full box of semi-sweet baker's chocolate, a family sized bag of mini Reese's peanut butter cups, 3 packages of Philadelphia creamcheese , and other ingredients I won't even bother mentioning. It's a heavy-duty dessert I dreamt up a few years ago that is almost legendary amongst my friends and family. I also made three double batches of granola...I'm not sure what I'll make next, but I do have tons of ideas. At this point in my prep, my neighbors and family typically start to gain weight as I lose it...lol... I will admit that I do keep one piece of everything I make and store it in the freezer for after my show. Come show time, my deep-freeze is usually full of random peices of sweets...it's scary!

In other news, my last trek was to visit my family in the little mountain village where I bought a new car and drove it home. I absolutely love it! The drive home was very long, but it was very enjoyable. Now speaking of driving, it's time to go to the gym....the tanning bed and the dumbbells await me.

Enjoy your day!

I'm home for now, but flying out again in three days!

WOW! I had the most amazing weekend! I flew in late last night from a quick weekend trip to visit with my trainer. In a nutshell, we 'plotted the course' for my last 10 weeks of pre-contest prep..I am so excited! I'm feeling pretty darn good these days and my weekend with my trainer made me feel even better! Not only am I totally on track for this show, I seem to be ahead of schedule so..the next 10 weeks will be stress free and will most likely pass by easily. As you may know, I'm training with IFBB pro Helen Bouchard this year..she has been incredible to work with...she is remarkably inspiring, encouraging, and extremely supportive! I could not ask for a better trainer! She has taught me many new things about training, diet etc. and has given me the guidance to transform my physique. She has a wealth of knowledge and tons of experience. She has even shown me countless new ways to prepare my diet food so that it tastes like cheat food...who needs cheat food when you can make 'diet' food taste even better?

While in Edmonton, we attended a bodybuilding competition which was fun to watch...Helen is the new head judge in Alberta so it was fascinating to see her in action! On Sunday, my pal Nicole Ball came in to town to join us for the day to train and just hang out, we had so much FUN!

Now that I'm home, I'm already preparing to head out of town again. I'll be flying out on Thursday morning...upon my arrival home,I'll have 2 weeks of 'down time' before I fly out to Edmonton to see Helen again. My travel schedule has made life a little hectic, but it's nothing I can't handle.... I'm in a pretty positive place mentally these days....I'll make the most of anything that comes my way.

The first few weeks of my prep were extremely challenging, but now that I'm past the half way point, I can look back and see that it wasn't so difficult after all..as for the next 9 weeks and 5 days ahead....in a 'blink' they'll be over so, I plan to enjoy the rest of my prep.

Backtracking to the weekend before this past one....as you'll recall, I was away to judge a competition in FSJ....the show was great with a record number of competitors who entered...there were some very high calibre novice athletes with quality physiques...I was empressed! The trip went very smoothly and I look forward to going back again next year :)The most interesting part was that the woman who won the women's Figure overall lives in the same city I do and even trains in my gym yet I have never seen her before in my life....what a surprise! Apparently she and I keep two totally different schedules..our paths have somehow never managed to cross until we met at the show....and then to make it a little more odd,she's trained by Desiree Ellis, a good friend of mine.

A pic of me with the Overall Figure winner


and of course..a pic of Des & I with her client :)


I'm off to cook some food...have a great day!