3 days to go.............................

Well it is almost here! I can't believe it. It's kind of bitter sweet, like I can't wait for it but then in an odd way I don't want to come to an end yet!

These next 3 days are so crucial, it will determine how I look on that stage. Yes, today is my final cardio but there is still tweaking needed with diet and water thereafter. I only get one chance up there and I need to hit my peak perfectly, the total package needs to be ON! It's not over till I stand tall saturday night.

I can not explain to you how different this prep has been for me. It has definitely lead me on roller coaster of emotional and physical pain. I did not exactly welcome these with open arms but I can now look back and realize that each time I experienced these moments I reminded myself about getting back up and keep on going. Remember that life is not about the obstacles we face but about how we persevere through them and create our own path to our goals and our success.

This journey has not been with out much support from AMAZING family and friends! You all know who you are! Having your encouragement has kept me striving to be the best. To be an inspiration and motivator in your goals and your life! To you I owe much gratitude, I would not be here without you!

Well as I begin my final cardio to sweat burn any final flaws that have hung on til now, stubborn guys, I will think back to the beginning and what I have accomplished thus far and focus on what I need to do these next few days to reach my ultimate goal!

Much Love & Appreciation!
Michelle

Eye Of The Tiger!

You know that feeling when it just hits you? You've got it........the eye of the tiger? Driven, determined and patiently awaiting the kill! Yes, I am hungry! Literally and metaphorically, HA! But it's time..............to persevere through these next 2 weeks, pushing harder, digging deeper than I have ever done before.

It amazes me that even though I have been here before it feels different, tougher than the past. Why? Does training and dieting ever get easier? Nope! Not if you want to achieve your greatest potential! You have go beyond your limits, beyond your comfort zone and push past your barriers. When you do this there is a sense of accomplishment and pride in yourself that you can reach your goals and then set new ones. So no matter what we are always pushing faster, harder and becoming stronger.

This quote has stuck in my head this entire contest prep, "Do what you have always done and you will get what you have always gotten". This holds oh so true. If we repeat the same ways or patterns we will never change and go grow. What can you change today to push you in a different direction or down a different path.................seeking your true inner potential!

Remember to stay strong and confident and you can reach those goals that you have set!

Here is a pic from when I went to Cali to train with Hany, with us is also IFBB figure Huong Arcinas, who is currently prepping for the Olympia. Beautiful!
Oh, and no I do not have on my heels, LOL!

Hermit in Hiding!

Sad to say that this has been the case. I don’t want to make excuses about how busy life is as we are faced with the lengthy list of to-dos on a daily basis. Unfortunately my updates have been nil since last October. Man, it’s nearly October already again, has it really been this long since I have shared my lifes' journey with you. There has been much on my plate these past 9 months and believe me I have wanted to sit down and tell you all about it but it seemed something else seemed to jump on my priority list.

So here I sit on a plane ride back from California. Wow, what a whirlwind of 48 hours it has been. This was just a quick trip down to train with my coach “The Pro Creator”! Does this name ring a bell? Think Mr.Olympia behind the scenes. Well, most of you may not know who this guy is unless you are an avid bodybuilder follower and read mags such as MD or Flex. This guy is the top trainer in the world, hey he trainers Jay Cutler and Phil Heath, just to name the top guys of bodybuilding. Hany Rambod is the magic behind these guys. So what does a little ol’amateur like me doing in this neck of the woods you ask? Well learning something new from the best in the biz! Changing things up to bring a different package to the stage than I have in the past. We all need to keep learning and growing and this change in coaches was a step in the right direction. Who else to learn from than the Pro-creator himself. Hope his name holds true in less than 4 weeks!

I must admit I was a bit star struck at first as here he is taking the time to train me, listen to my concerns and guide me through the rest of my journey to the stage. Did I mention thats less than 4 weeks away? Right, I did just seems so close but so far away! As now it is crunch time, time to buckle in an giver! Time to tighten those last few areas, practice and practice again and again my posing and stage presence.

You see no matter how many times we practice we can always give more, do more and strive for excellence. Our own self-determined excellence comes from what we believe is our best and as long as I know that I have given my best and have followed everything I could from my coaches advice than my excellence at this point is achieved. Someone once told me that if we do not achieve the standard we set for ourselves that we will NEVER be able to achieve them. What I don’t understand in this negative thought pattern is how are you suppose to succeed if you do not know how to fail first. We determine success by what we can overcome and achieve and if we first know how to fall and pick ourselves up we can carry on and strive to do or be better. I challange you to think of something that you may have wanted to achieve in the past but have given up because of the fear of failure and think of how you can overcome this obstacle in order to succeed.

We are only limited by what we fear!

Hang on for the ride......................................

Michelle

Halloween has come and gone!

Hi guys! Well Halloween has come and gone and it was a blast. I love dressing up! Me and my hubby went as evil clowns and I did both of our make-up, we were late to the party we were attending but I'm almost positive we would have one the best couple costume! Maybe next year, I'm already turning the wheels on next years costume.

Now the focus is on Christmas, well trying to. I haven't even started my Christmas shopping, EEK! Perhaps thats a good thing because every year as I start shopping I keep filling my closet with presents and then when it comes time to wrap them I forgot about what I bought. So I end up spending more money in the end and wrapping presents into the wee hours of christmas eve. Oh come on I know some of you do this!

So this year I told myself no early shopping, not that I really had the time, this year is about a budget. Yup! You heard BUDGET! I'm sure we've all been there trying to say that we won't spend what we did last year but does this hold true, nope, not really. So this is the year, holding back on shopping has done some good. AH, but what to buy on a budget, kind of is a drag. Oh, I'm sure I\ll think of something................hmmmmmm. Thoughts??

Are you finished your shopping and now sitting back and enjoying the holidays. I love this festive season even just walking around the mall in no hurry, just people watching, looking at the decorations and listening to the wonderful music, oh and of course all the while holding an egg nog latte (skinny option of course). Ha, I would hardly call it skinny though as they still use real sugar syrup! But it is a nice treat once in a while. I think my addiction to them from last year has blown over a bit. I ran to several starbucks last year once I heard they were discontinuing them after the holidays, need my last fix! Crazy I was! What's your favorite treat over the holidays? Send me an email and let me know what you like to indulge in!

Have a very happy holiday and feel blessed that we can enjoy it here in Canada!
Luv,
Michelle

Olympia Pictures

Here are few pics from the BIG WEEKEND!

Nearly Hallow's Eve!

Yikes, I can't believe I've left this post unspoken for for so long.....okay maybe I can. I know, I know, what in the world could be sooooo important that I haven't updated my blog. Well, you know when your plate loses a few tasks you tend to throw more on right, Yep, that's me. So here I am trying to keep pace with the world and myself for that matter. I has been a month since the Olympia, what an event. There are so many fit people there that feed my inspiration and determination to continue on in this sport of figure.

I don't know if you can ever have a enough pics with pros! Jay Culter, Gina Aliotti, Jenny Lynn, Monica Brandt, Branch Warren, just to name a few. I tend to laugh at myself sometimes as they are just human right! Wrong they have stepped on the Olympia stage which makes them an Olympic Legend! It's funny when people who are not involved in this industry have no idea when you speak these names or talk about the Olympia at times I am beside myself thinking WHAT! You don't know what the Olympia is. But as soon as I mention Arnold they all seem recall those Iconic days. I wonder was that a different era then has the world of bodybuilding changed and if so has it been for the better?

Enough rambling about that.........................the Olympia is always full of excitement, events and TONS of samples. At least this year we kept it to a minimum. Last year we brought back an entire duffle bag full and we still going through some the products right up until this years Olympia. So we decided that this was not necessary this year. It was an interesting figure competition this year last years winner Jennifer Gates was not in attendance so the title was up for grabs. Most people thought Gina Aliotti would be taking it this year but Nicole Wilkins came out of no where and took the title. It was really close and as we all know this sport is very subjective and it comes down to a few fine things between placings. I was stoked that Jay got back his title and MUCH deserve guy the looked amazing and who saw Branch pulling up to second place, I don't think anyone called that one! I have some great pics to post and will do that soon.

As for myself and where I have been...................still working steady at the online course development and trying to find time to train. With the days shorter it seems like there is less hours in the day. My priorities have shifted a bit for now as I am dedicating most of my time to work and family and trying to squeeze in those supersets and cardio when I can. It's funny when I get into onseason mode it seems like a light switch, with a flick I am on track and prepping for a show. It's a bit of a nice break right now having the flexibility in my training and having the opportunity to try different training styles. When I'm onseason I always train heavy and usually 5 days a week and each day takes about 1.5 hours. Now I can train with supersets or circuits and find myself in and out of the gym in an hour weights and cardio included! Sometimes I feel like I haven't done anything well at least til my muscles tell me otherwise the next.

I hope you are all excited for Halloween, I know I am. It has been a while since I dressed up and a friend is having a party this weekend and my costume is great! You'll have to wait to see pics as I don't want to spill it just yet. Oh and of course let's not forget all thee little chocolates the kids bring home............................hmmmm.....nothing beats chocolate and PB! Hey we all need some sanity once in a while right?

Well Happy Halloween and I'll fill you in soon the festivities this weekend!

So what happened?

Well, the last few weeks have been CRAZY! With competing in 2 shows in 2 weeks and then back to school I feel like summer wasn't even here. I guess there are pros and cons to dieting over the summer. You look great in a bikini but then you miss out on the wonderful BBQ's and summer festivities.

Alright, alright so let's get to what happened at the shows right? Well, this was the BEST contest prep ever! I felt like I came in the best shape I have ever looked. Balanced symmetry & lean, but it wasn't what the judges were looking for. As we know with this sport it is so subjective that you never know what will happen. SO what did happen........................I placed 6th in my class, which was much to my suprise, my coaches suprise and several others. So each time I compete I take what I have done and learnt to develop and improve for the next show. But in order to do that I needed feedback from the judges so I could work hard and bring it even better next year. This is the frustrating part...............................the judges couldn't give me anything constructive. I heard comments like "you looked amazing and have what it takes to be at the top, keep training hard". This comment tells me just put in your time and you'll be rewared. Another comment was "your muscle mass is the same as others but because you are tall you appear bigger so you should downsize", really? If I downsize will the other judge not like my look? So you can see my predicament! What does one do to prep for next year? I think at this point all you can do is trust your coach and your instinct of how you like to look. I feel my size and porportion is balanced, other than maybe more shoulder cap, my routine will be looking at maintaining what I have.

So with that experience I decided to head to Cleveland, Ohio for the North American Championships. This show includes competitors from Canada, USA and Mexico. Not really knowing what the look was for these judges and never having done a show outside of Canada my expectations weren't much. I wanted to go for the experience, practice and exposure.

The trip was a quick turn around getting in at midnight thursday and then leaving 7am sunday so I didn't really get to see much of Cleveland, all in all, I believe I stepped outside for a total of 30min!! The hotel was beautiful very old and the staff were more than accomodating and friendly. The hotel sits right above the mall which had an amazing Cookie store which I ended up visiting several times.

Friday was prepping and relaxing and then the show was on saturday. I couldn't believe the number of competitors. The show was so long, it was good to have our hotel in the same building as the event so I could relax in my room for a bit.

There were about 18 girls in my class and when they did the first call-outs I had butterflies in my stomach. Whe they called my number I was so excited! I really couldn't believe it. So as it turned out I placed 4th and had the biggest smile on my face!

So I guess I can say that I am 6th in Canada and 4th in North America, not really sure how that makes sense, LOL!!

So now I am back to work fulltime wondering how the summer flew by me. I am focusing on my new position with the school district and redeveloping some online courses. Should fun, interesting and hopefully not too stressful. I will fit my training in when I can incorporating more of a circuit style for now to minize my time at the gym.

I hope you are all well and keeping up with the fast pace of life, take time for yourself & breathe,
talk soon,
Michelle