Off to Las Vegas for the Olympia

Tomorrow morning, I'm off to Las Vegas and I am so damn excited about it! Yes,it has been nice to be home, but I'm looking forward to going away yet again...lol.... Six fun filled days in Las Vegas will be fabulous! I'm looking forward to seeing the Olympia, but I'm also looking forward to doing some shopping while I'm there. The highlight of my trip to the 'O' this year will be watching my friend Nicole up on stage competing....I'm truly excited and nervous for her :)

While I'm in Las Vegas I'll be shooting for my site as well so keep an eye out for new galleries coming soon.

I'm slowly settling back in to the groove of 'normal' life....I'm not even sure what 'normal' is, but I know I'm settling back in to a more familiar lifestyle...I'm far less moody these days and my patience does not run out nearly as quickly as it had been. Funny enough, my therapeutic baking has finally come to an end! My freezer is still full of treats that I plan to eat when I get home from the Olympia :) Considering what I have baked, I have enough goodies packed away to last me another year..and that doesn't include everything I have stored at my parents house...

As my off-season approaches, I'm now trying to decide when I'll compete again. Honestly, I'm not in a rush....I know I have some work to do in order to be competitive in the pro ranks, but this will be the first time that I have entered my off-season without a competition date scheduled and a countdown looming over head. I really want to bring up my quads this year and add a bit more overall mass. Working with Helen this past year was amazing and I'm planning to work with her again. Her training methods and nutrition plan enabled me to make phenominal gains during my last off-season so, I can only imagine what will happen this year :) For now, I'll continue to enjoy my hiatus from the gym, continue to have my back 'treated' so that it heals properly and simply relax. The last 6 months have been overly eventful and now it's time for a break.

Well, I gotta finish packing for my trip!

A pic from a shoot I did on the beach in Atlantic City.


I'll be back with an update next week :)

My trip to Atlantic City.....read on....

First off, I'd like to say that my pro debut was one hell of an experience...it was so cool to stand up on stage with many of the women I have admired for years. It was also very intimidating too, but I think it would have been more so had I have been there alone. Thankfully my trainer was there along with other fellow Canadian competitors....we had a blast!

Congratulations to my pal Nicole Ball who dominated our lightweight class and secured herself a qualification to the OLYMPIA...YOU GO GIRL! I'll see ya in Vegas!

A pic of Nicole, me & Jamie Senuk (Figure Pro) backstage....



My actual trip to Atlantic City was the furthest thing from pleasant...it all started on Wednesday at 3am when I was woken up by an automated phone call from the airline I had booked with, the recording informed me that my flight scheduled to depart only three hours later was now CANCELLED! I was stunned... I was half asleep, my diet brain just couldn't seem to comprehend such an idea in the wee hours of the morn and at this point I was scrambling to wake up, call the airline which proved to be useless, find another flight asap...all the while trying to keep my stress level in check....I was able to find a flight off the island, but it meant I had to be at the airport in an hour and that I'd be making a 'milk run' across the continental USA just to get to Atlantic City as scheduled.....it wasn't a fun morning...I made my flight, but my connection in Vancouver was delayed and this caused a domino effect...I ended up missing my other connections through various cities in the USA and ended up stranded in Atlanta for a night. If I wasn't irritated enough by my flight getting cancelled, now I was really bothered. I was finally able to get to Atlantic City the following morning, however, in the mean time I had the luxury of paying for two hotel rooms for an evening..my pre-booked room in AC and a friggin' room in Atlanta now too.... I was so thankful to have arrived in AC when I finally got there...the relief was unbelievable! My hotel was easy to find and the venue was very close by so it made for easy travel to and fro.... Atlantic City itself wasn't particularly nice at least not what I saw of it, I certainly wouldn't travel there again....the only decent location seemed to be the boardwalk area. The boardwalk offered great restaurants, cool knick-knack shops and a spectacular ocean breeze. After my arrival, the trip went pretty smoothly until my departure....the plane had broken down causing a two hour delay in our departure which again caused me to miss two connections, but the airline was helpful enough to shuffle me on to a different flight which sent me directly from Atlanta straight up to Seattle to make my final connection before I was to arrive home. My luck had finally run out...my flight out of Seattle was delayed by 3 1/2 hours...by the time I finally arrived home, I had endured almost 18 hours of travel to cover a distance simply not great enough to occupy such a large amount of time. Let me tell you, I have NEVER been happier to be home than I am right now. I'm scheduled to fly out to Las Vegas in just a few days and if I didn't love it there so damn much, I'd cancel the trip very quickly. Hopefully this trip will go much more smoothly.... Well, that's enough about my travel adventures...lol...

My pre-contest prep has finally come to an end although I'm still relatively following my diet to keep my weight down until I get to Las Vegas. I'm planning to embark on my off-season journey October 1st, but until then I'm taking some time off from the gym to allow some of my nagging injuries to heal....I'll be undergoing some aggressive ART and massage therapy to mend a pinched nerve in my back....I'm assuming it happened during my last week of prep leading up to AC, but I'm not positive....perhaps it had been there longer and I hadn't noticed it until it got really bad...all I know is that my hand keeps going numb and I get jolts of pain down my arm when I move in certain directions. Ah, the joys of bodybuilding! Fortunately, I haven't suffered too many injuries over the years. I'll be back to normal in no time at all.

The UFC is on this weekend so I'll be tuning in to PPV with some friends to watch the event....of course there will be all kinds of food involved...I can't tell you what a relief it is to be off my pre-contest diet....I almost feel free in a way...yes, I'm still following my diet plan voluntarily during the week, but that is by choice not necessity....it'll be nice to eat some junk food (like pizza) and visit with my friends whom I have neglected for months. Ordering UFC on PPV is a convenient way to get everyone together for an evening :)

Well, that's all for now....I think I'll retreat to the couch and watch some TV...I'm still quite fatigued from my trip....early to bed tonight....

My pro debut....only days away!

Just when I thought I couldn't handle another 4 weeks of dieting...time has passed incredibly quickly...here I sit counting down the final days (only 5) until I make my pro debut in Atlantic City! Hell, I'm leaving for Atlantic City on Wednesday! At this point, I'm just SO excited to get there and get the process underway.
I'm currently living amongst chaos as I prep to leave....trying to get my food cooked, portioned and frozen...trying to prioritize what I should and shouldn't pack...and most importantly, trying not to forget anything. Ah, my poor dieting brain!

I'll be meeting up with Helen & Nicole on my journey (in Philadelphia) and we'll be finishing the last leg of our trip together. It sure will be nice to have a few days in AC to unwind before the show. After the show, I'm headed up to NYC for a few days then I'll return home. However, my stay at home will be short lived as I'll be flying out to Las Vegas for the Olympia less than a week later....AND...I'll be in Las Vegas 6 fun-filled days....YAHOO! By the time I finally settle back in at home again we'll be in to October and I'll be counting down the few short days leading up to Thanksgiving which will require that I take another trip, but to visit family this time. Of all the insanity, the one sure thing is that I'm really going to miss sleeping in my own bed!

My therapeutic baking has continued....I made a list of everything I have made from the start of my pre-contest prep up until now and that list entails more than 75 different recipes...can you imagine? It's no wonder my deep-freeze is filled to maximum capacity. Today I'm actually planning to empty the freezer and transport all of the baked goodies to my parents deep-freeze instead...I don't really have a choice in the matter..lol... I need to freeze my food that I'll consume later this week and at this point, I simply do not have any room. I have assembled a majority of the treats on party trays for easy transport....and speaking of parties...my folks are throwing a celebratory bash for me upon my arrival home...yup, I finally get to celebrate turning pro! Needless to say, all of my baking will be put to the test as it will be consumed by numerous family members and friends when we celebrate...it should be an absolute blast!

Well, gotta run...lots to do and so very little time left!
Cross your fingers for me and send good vibes my way on Saturday!

A candid clip taken by a fellow competitor backstage after I won the overall..enjoy!

September is here already!

Someone please tell me where the summer went? It passed by way too quickly!
Labour day will be here tomorrow...good grief... and my family is already making plans for Thanksgiving.....I think we need to slow things down a little bit...lol...

I'm still flyin' from my 'whirl-wind' experience of turning pro and yet I'm in the final stage of my prep for my pro debut....I couldn't be more excited! My pro status still hasn't sunk in yet, but the reality of dieting has...lol...it has been extremely difficult to continue dieting after my win.....everyone around me seems to want to go out and celebrate...sure, it's great that everyone I know is so happy for me, hell, I'm happy for 'me' too, but I won't be doing any REAL celebrating until after I arrive home from the show in Atlantic City. Even then, the true fun part will not begin until I arrive home from the Olympia at the end of the month...my arrival home will signify the beginning of my off-season...YAHOO! Please don't get me wrong,I'm certainly not complaining about my choice to compete in another show so soon, I'd be crazy to pass up an opportunity to get my butt up on a pro stage while I'm still in great shape. Yep, I'm just slightly nervous about it, but what have I got to lose? It's the perfect opportunity for me to 'get my feet wet' so to speak. I'm very fortunate to have both my trainer and another friend competing at the same show....I couldn't imagine what it would be like if I were headed to Atlantic City alone. Entering your first pro show can be intimidating....I actually had to read through the rules and 'code of ethics' just to know what is expected of me at my first pro show. Yes, I have attended my fair share of pro events, but I have never given any consideration as to what it would entail as a competitor. Now I know!

Regardless of the outcome in Atlantic City, getting there will have been a huge accomplishment in itself....my first pro show :) It'll be nice to have Helen and Nicole there to share in the day as fellow competitors, but it'll be even better when we can celebrate afterward....I think the first round of 'mile-high' cheesecake will be on me! I owe Helen, Daph & Nic at least that much....they have been my biggest support system. This will be one hell of a memorable trip! I'm sure I'll come home with a ton of pics :)

Now speaking of pics......I still have many to share :)

Nathalie (Heavyweight winner)& me at Helen's the day after the show....a bunch of us had gotten together for dinner and had an absolute blast.



The pro's....
2006 Overall Champ Nicole Ball, NEW IFBB pro Cindy Phillips & me (2007 Overall Champ)


Canada's 4 newest pro's.



A pic from the gym...just messin' around :)


that's all for now...this dieting gal needs some sleep....