The comp dreams have begun!

Every time I  compete, I, as many gals do,  get very bizarre dreams (or nightmares really, LOL) related to the competition. In the past I've had dreams of realising I'm completely covered in hair on stage as well as trying to shrink my outfit in the toaster.  This year, they've started a tad early as usually they don't start until I've started the stricter food.

So, the first dream of the season was a couple nights ago; in the dream I was already at the pre-judging, John took off for some reason, and it suddenly dawned on me that I had absolutely no tan on what-so-ever. Suddenly, I'm no longer at the event but at the photo-shoot (which in real life I am booked in for between the morning and evening shows), and just as I'm about to go into the studio I see myself in a mirror and see these terrible welts all over my tummy-as well as still being completely white with no tan-YUCK!

Suddenly I'm back at the hotel room with John and telling him we have one hour for him to tan me up!

That's all I remember....funny though! I guess that's something I have been thinking about quite a bit, the tan. I'm trying a different product this year-rather than gooping on the Dream Tan it's one that you apply over a few days and is dry. I think this will be better as the Dream Tan, though it is a decent colour, is just so darn messy, and I don't know I feel like maybe it wasn't really dark enough either.

Anyway-that's all for now!
Have you had any crazy comp dreams?

15 weeks and here’s where I’m at

Yup- I am currently 15 weeks out from my first comp in two years and I’m still rip-roaring and ready to go! I did stuff up my back a bit last week going too heavy on squats. I should have known better but let my emotions dictate how much weight rather than my brain; FAIL! The squats looked good-even hubby said so while he spotted me…but with this scoliosis and chronic hip thing I’ve got going on-certain areas were obviously over-compensating and I ended up in a ton of pain for almost 3 days. Literally laid up in bed with the heating pad all day in between clients.

It’s still not 100% better, I had to clean house in stages over the weekend-but only used the heating pad for a while in the afternoons. I did some light shoulders on Saturday and a decent back and bi workout yesterday; even got a PB on pull-ups; 7 straight on the first set!

Other than that, I’ve actually already started losing weight without even trying….I’ve lost  1.4 kilos…which for me is a pretty big loss since I had been maintaining my weight for quite a while. I don’t know how it happened-I didn’t even do any cardio last week, and I have been eating like a horse…hubby’s words…LOL.  Next week I’ll do some skin fold measures-I did some a couple of weeks ago-so that will hopefully tell the story…a fat loss story is what we are hoping for! 

Here is a link to some information and a video  of the posing we do for a figure comp for those of you who have never been to a comp before and might wonder what they judge us on....here ya go! This is from the Asia Pacific which is the first comp I'm doing in June.

Ciao for now!

Women of Strength

This week I'm highlighting a woman I've blogged about before, back in 2009. Ruth Frith was just 99 at the time, throwing the shot put and bench pressing!

At the time she was preparing another meet at the World Masters Games in Sydney; her first had been when she was just a kid of 72.  Well since then, Ruth has not stopped; she still lifts weights twice a week and she does hammer and javelin training twice a week as well. Ruth just turned 102!!!! 

She is not ruling out the 2013 World Masters event either. Go Ruth! If this does not convince you that you are never too old to workout, there is no hope for you! :-0 Now get out there and move that bod!

Below is an interview with Ruth back in 2009;

Did somebody say Asia Pacific?

YEEEHAAAW! I made a decision last night; I'm going to do the A-Pac June 10th as well as the All Females June 24; WOOHOO!

I was thinking about it for a few days, and last night it hit me like a bullet-whamo; decision made!

This puts everything up by 2 weeks, which is A-OK! Just need to step up my game this week rather than 2 weeks from now; I'm on it!
Excited? ummm YEAH!

Women of Strength

Back in 2009 I did a post about some inspiring Aussie women who took control of their health and changed their lives for the better. The three women were a mix of mums and grand-mums who went from overweight and unhappy to super fit competitors and trainers! I thought I'd re-post that here today as they represent strength to me by really turning their health and bodies around. The post got quite a bit of comments, both of praise and criticism. I have put a link to the original post if you're interested in the comments.

(The info in italics was added today)
In last weeks VLOG I mentioned people saying to me things like “well, it’s easy for you to work on your fitness Raechelle, you don’t have kids to take care of or an an office to go to every day”. So, I wanted to share with the nay-sayers, some gals that I know of who have families, jobs, households to take care of, and are not only fit, but went from very un-fit to being fabulous competitors whilst taking care of everything else! They made the time because they wanted to. They stopped making excuses and organised their lives to make time for their health.
Cath- 49 year old Nana who weighed 83kg (183 lbs) with Body Fat% of around 40% in January 2008, 16 months later competed at 54kg (119 lbs) and 7% body fat in the INBA Brisbane Competition and placed 4th out of 8 in the Masters Figure Class. (Cath's blog)
Cath-before & after:Cathy has now won numerous trophies for her efforts and has her own fitness company!

Tara- mother of three young children weighed a whopping 110kgs [242lbs] and lost an amazing 54kgs [119lbs] (Tara's blog)
Tara-before:
Tara-after:
Tara has competed just about every year now since losing all her weight and has worked in the fitness industry since her accomplishment as well. She's also my inspiration for going harder on shoulders!

Melita-single mother of two kids had gained a considerable amount of weight, an uncomfortable 40+ lbs (20 kilos). Melita was "bursting out of my size 12 clothes." (Melita's full story)
Melita-before:
Melita-after:
Melita is now a well known body-building competitor as well as a trainer.
So, what's your excuse now?
Have a great week!
http://raechellesblog.blogspot.com.au/2009/12/fit-because-wanna-be.html

Women of Strength

I thought I'd mix things up a bit and start highlighting other women that I find inspirational, besides just the shorties. Whether they are older than the norm for being fit, stronger than the average woman, or perhaps beating the odds and defeating a physical debilitation; these are women that I admire.
I'm going to start off with a familiar face that I and many other bloggers have highlighted in the past. As a 74 year old bodybuilder, she's one of my favourite women of strength; and she didn't even start working out until she was 56 years old!
Say hello to (or welcome back!) Ernestine Shepherd!

Pint Sized Powerhouse of the Week

Coming in at 5'3", with 5 Pro wins, a top 5 finish at the 2010 Olympia and Top 5 finishes at the Figure International 2009, 2010 and 2011, let's hear it for Felicia Romero!

Not only is she an IFBB Figure pro, she has graced the cover of Flex Magazine twice, and also did  a cover shot for Muscle & Fitness Hers.

She works in Arizona as a personal trainer, and by her look in this next picture, I'd say she'd probably put anyone through the paces hardcore!

Stay tough and have a great week!
Ciao for now!

Absolutely Buzzing!

(Above we've got the last three years of All Females winners-Janet Kane at the top for 2011, Skye Cushway for 2010, and Clare Ross for 2009.)

I feel like a kid who’s 2 weeks away from Christmas right now; only I’ve got 5 months dang it!

Yes, I just keep getting these hits of excitement when I think about the All Females comp in June; since I think about it constantly, I’m pretty much in a state of excitement from dawn till dusk daily-LOL!

I don’t know why I’m so excited; just the whole idea of competing again, and chatting up all the gals I’ve gotten to know through blogging and FaceBook and haven’t met face to face yet. The whole thing just amps me beyond belief.

On top of that, it’ll be a first for visiting Melbourne, so quite excited about taking in a few sites while there.

Sunday will be the start of my weekly hard-core training session with John. This way I can go super heavy on one body part each week, where he can spot and of course push me to the limits-and he’s not shy about yelling when it comes to my training…ha! No Holds Barred! Bring it on!

How about you? Are you stepping up your game this year? The time has come; Get on it!

Ciao for now!

Book suggestions? I want more like this one!

I just finished the truly inspiring book AGE IS JUST A NUMBER by Dara Torres; bloody awesome!

After retiring a number of times from swimming, she came back at age 41 and won a pile of medals at the 2008 Olympics-proving that age is not a reason to slow down. I love this woman and her story.

And it's no wonder she won all those medals-check her out here-knee surgery didn't slow her down from still getting her workout in; legs no good-go upper body!

She is a wonderful inspiration for woman of all ages.

Now I want to find more books about inspiring female athletes; any suggestions?

Let me have 'em!

Ciao for now!

Great New Cookbook!

So far, I have tried at least half a dozen recipes out of this book, and all have been super easy and tasty. Michelle has come up with some great combinations of flavours, and has the nutrient breakdown for each recipe as well as some great tips on alternatives and clean eating & cooking. She's put in some beautiful photos of each meal as well.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks-it's all in there! Kudos to Michelle! 

A great buy for sure! Just click on the top link at the right of my page to purchase!

Ciao for now!