Wednesday Weigh-In

As a total competition newbie, no matter how much reading and research I do, I feel like I'm still going to be taken by surprise by a lot of things throughout the process, and especially on the day of (and days following) my first competition.

For this week's Wednesday Weigh-in, I went to some of my new friends who have different levels of experience with competing in the "Fitness Model" and "Bikini" divisions of various federations, and asked them to weigh-in on the one thing they WISH they'd known before their first competition...Their responses were quite different, and as I get more responses, I'll continue to add them below!

Sally Leung: "Honestly, I didn't know what to expect on my first competition, but thinking back, I learned that it is not about focusing on any one thing or copying past winners, it's about finding yourself, maximizing all your assets and creating your own styles. Afterall (like Clark [Bartram] says), competition results don't mean anything if you don't give it meaning. My suggestion to new competitors is to focus on improving every aspect of yourself and measure your success based on personal improvements through the competition process."

Judika Timar: "that you HAVE to have the best suit...jewelry etc..and that no matter how good you look...its political.....I am glad that I did do the 2 competitions...but I have no desire to ever do it again...It is not for me...you have to make sure the posing is perfect too..the walk..."

Lucien Gautreau: "One thing that I wished [someone] had told me .. well honestly I must say that it would probably be something like... "this is going to be one of the best experiences of your life, so don't stress to much and focus only on yourself, be open and get out there, meet as many people as you can. Enjoy the pleasures of being in the presence of such positive like-minded people and embrace every moment, as you will meet some of the greatest people and make some of the greatest friends." .. and make sure you wax 1 week before show day! :P"

Amber Dunford: When I sat down with Amber last weekend, her one thing she wished she'd known was that the tan would be SO DARK!  She put it on for the first time, panicked, then went on to mix it with baby oil to lighten it up...after the fact, she realized that she could have been ten shades darker!

Jacinthe Amyot: "The most important I would say to anybody who wants to enter the Fitness World is : Do never underestimate the importance of being well surrounded to attain success and reach your objectives. You really have to choose the right persons who will support you, share with you and spread positive energy all over the place :)"

The best way to prepare for something is to learn from those who have gone before you - as I get closer to my first competition, I hope to be ready for the good, the bad, and the ugly...

I HIGHLY recommend that you click on the names of the very talented, inspirational, beautiful, and above all else, helpful people above who are open books to anyone willing to listen and learn from their experiences - I've linked to each of their pages, and you really can gain a wealth of knowledge by following them and subscribing to their pages!  I know that I plan to learn everything that I can from their stories!

Love yourself and prove it!
xo
Mandy

Mandy's Monday Menu

It's Monday, and I'm thinking this is the day that I set my mind right for the week, so what better way to do that than to share my Menu - what I'm going to eat, how much, and when!

Yesterday, I met with my new friend and mentor, Amber Dunford, to discuss my plans for the next 18 weeks.  As I've read about the whole preparation process, there has been a consistent message that in order to be successful, competitors will need a coach and trainer.  I've been in the gym on and off (but mostly on!) for over 13 years, and my boyfriend is a certified trainer, but neither of us has experience with competitions.  Amber believes that between my boyfriend and I, we have enough experience and understanding of both training and nutrition to be successful - as long as we have a little bit of guidance from someone who has been through the competition circuit before.  With that, Amber became my mentor, and has offered to give me tips and tricks that she has picked up along the way, so that my boyfriend and I can take it, and make it work for MY journey.

Knowing that my body is sensitive to carbs (as Bethenny Frankel said on her show today, "you might as well just staple that to your ass"), and having seen the results of carb cycling on my body before, we decided to start carb cycling right away at 18 weeks.  My overall plan is 1400 calories per day - only 50 calories per day less than I was targeting before - with 1 high carb day, followed by 3 low carb days, repeat, rather than being on a 7 day cycle. As always, the goal is to eat every 2-3 hours, and not go any further.

Here's the breakdown:
On HIGH carb days, I'll be eating 130g of protein (520 cals), 150g of carbs (600 cals), and 30g of fat (270 cals).
On LOW carb days, I'll be eating 150g of protein (600 cals), 30g of carbs (120 cals), and 75g of fat (680 cals).

Other slight changes from my previous program include the complete removal of dairy (I had been eating greek yogourt daily), cutting fruit down to only ONE piece per day, and only on HIGH carb days, veggies are now limited to GREEN veggies - I'll miss my grape tomatoes! - really limiting salt, and taking additional fish oil - 3 tablespoons per day.

Since my lovely friends Nat and Brock (aka "Brockalie") are getting married this Sunday, I started today with a LOW carb day, I'll have another tomorrow, Wednesday will be a HIGH day, Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be LOW, and then Sunday will be a high carb day WITH a cheat meal - wedding reception dinner!  I've cut alcohol out officially, but will likely include a glass of wine with my cheat meal dinner.

So for now, I'm going to share today's menu - remember this was a LOW carb day!

Breakfast: 4 egg whites, 2 whole eggs, cooked using 1 TBSP coconut oil
Snack: 1oz Pecans, 0.5oz Almonds
Lunch #1: 4oz chicken breast, 1/2cup Broccoli, 30g mixed greens, 1 TBSP olive oil
Lunch #2: 4oz chicken breast, 1/2 cucumber, 1 TBSP olive oil
WORKOUT - Shoulders + cardio
Post workout: 1.75 scoop chocolate protein shake
Dinner: 1 can tuna, 1 avocado, 64g (1 large stalk) celery - used lemon juice and ground pepper to taste

I will admit, I definitely felt hungry throughout the day.  I think it's a good thing that I'm back to measuring and weighing my food, as I've clearly been eating more than I thought!  My goal for tomorrow is to drink more water...

Love yourself, and PROVE IT!

xo
Mandy

Love yourself part deux

While I don't intend to do multi-posts in the same day, a friend of mine just posted this on Facebook, and I had to share - especially since it comes on the heels of my boyfriend's birthday yesterday (HBD!!), which had me thinking about just how quickly 30 is going to arrive for me...

These lists are typically cheesy and forgettable, but I LOVE this one, and was almost teary-eyed reading it!  AND, it hits on my most important message: be able to love yourself!

With that, I give you the original author's blog on her original 1997 Glamour Magazine article: "30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30."

love!
Mandy

Wednesday Weigh-in: Love yourself, and PROVE it!

For my first "Wednesday Weigh-in", I thought I'd offer some insight into where I'm coming from - not my bio, or a feature on my hometown, but what brought me to the headspace I'm currently in.  Future WWI's will be a space where I discuss topics of interest, articles, methodologies and hopefully have some guest bloggers!

I was raised to be a strong woman, with opinions and convictions, pride and strength (among other things).  I believed in myself, and wasn't afraid to stand out from the crowd, and stand up for what I believed in.  I played all of the team sports that I could, but my strength was figure skating - a sport that was demanding physically, and required commitment and dedication.  Before I ever realized it, I loved the sport because I was in control - my success was based (almost) 100% on how much effort I put into it.

My personal and athletic downfall was twofold; I was in a car accident that put a temporary end to my weight training in high school, and then after I moved away to University, and wasn't skating anymore.  I continued to talk a big game about being strong and proud, but had all but given up on myself.  One toxic relationship quite literally beat the spirit out of me - I wasn't allowed to go to the gym because if I lost weight, he was afraid other people would find me attractive!  I am forever grateful for the friends who helped me see that I deserved more.

Fast forward a few years, and I started running; another few years and I met my current boyfriend who helped me really get back into weight training and lifting big.  I had had the tools all along, but needed others to remind me of that strong, capable and determined woman that I was raised to be. Within a year of meeting my boyfriend, I had lost roughly 15% bodyfat, and was well on my way to being the person I knew I could be.

That desire to be in control, and know that the person that I am is a product of every action that I take, is back, and I have discovered Fitness competitions as the "grown up" version of my childhood love, figure skating.  I have a support system in place, both in my boyfriend, and in the new circle of friends that I have discovered both online (shout out to my "We Got This" girls!), and in person - all of whom I truly believe love me for who I am, and for what they know I am capable of.

My biggest fan though, is ME.  It has taken time, and trials, ups and downs, but I finally know that I love myself, and I'm worth the work that it takes to make healthy choices, and get to the gym on days like today, when the temperatures soar (hey! The gym has A/C!)

So I ask you to be honest with yourself - you know you love yourself, but are you doing the things that prove it?

Xo
Mandy

Welcome to Pledge Week

In the past week or so, I've made some great connections with people across the fitness industry, many of which were made through my involvement in the FMIevents seminar last weekend.  One thing that I've learned is that the industry is small - it's all about relationships, larger than life personalities, and being supportive and helpful to the community as a whole.  It's really a healthy, strong and beautiful sorority/fraternity!

In an attempt to do things a little bit differently from the norm, I'm going to start my competition prep today at 19 week, instead of the prescribed 12 weeks.  Being that this is my first competition, I have a long way to go, and am going to leverage the relationships that I've built to be as prepared as I can be.

With that said, I'm going to start this journey with a pledge.

I PLEDGE to share as much of my journey as I can, in hopes to inspire and maybe even help others to make steps toward their healthy lifestyle goals.  I pledge to do my best to be prepared for my first competition, to learn from those who are willing to teach, and to be a positive and supportive force for all whose paths I cross along the way.

What's your pledge?  I invite you all to join me in this "pledge week" - commit publicly to a goal, big or small.

You love yourself, now PROVE IT!

xo
Mandy

Immersed in Inspiration!

I've heard it said that if you want to learn something new, you should throw yourself into it head first, and learn under fire.  This past weekend afforded me exactly that opportunity, and I'm so glad that I took a step outside of my comfort zone!

FMI events puts on conferences all year round to bring together fitness entrepreneurs, and help them to find a fresh approach to their brand and business strategy; yes, being in the forefront of the fitness industry as a model, writer, personality, or whatever else you may be, is a business, and requires planning!  My new friend, Chivon John, suggested a while ago that I come to the conference being held in Mississauga, Ontario, and (being gainfully employed at the time) I jumped at the opportunity to network, learn, AND get a photoshoot under my belt with a well connected photographer!

With less than two days, FMIevents Director, Gary Augustine Warren and other panels of pros FILLED my head with ideas, excitement, and frankly, a bit of information overload!  I'm sure that this could be a semester-long class somewhere in order to cover everything, and even then it would be a challenge.  We covered building a brand, and the tools to use in order to convey who you are, legal topics that could surely go on for days just by listing them, image and hair/makeup, other parts of the fitness industry beyond just getting your picture in magazines, how/when/how often to market yourself and to whom....the list goes on and on....I'm just glad I was taking notes!  Between the information that I was learning, and all of the ideas that it was inspiring, my head was spinning just trying to keep up.

Beyond just the pros on the panels, the room was filled with 20+ individuals with different backgrounds, levels of experience, goals, dreams...the more we got into conversations, the more the room filled with a sense of spontaneous inspiration and creativity.  If I could just bottle that energy...

Today, the second day of the conference, involved a photoshoot.  It certainly required a lot of preparation both physically and mentally.  I'd gone to the Dove Spa (on Dundas West) for my spray tan, had Susan @ChicLash do my eyelash extensions, had picked out my wardrobe, and finally had my long-time friend, Crystal Overland, do my very early morning makeup...All of that on top of the hard work that has gone into diet (thanks, Zach!), and workouts (too many people to thank, but they know who they are - WE GOT THIS!). 

The whole idea, while I love being in front of the camera was daunting.  I had selected Mike Byerly as my photographer, both based on his past work, and the fact that he regularly shoots my fitness idol, Jamie Eason.  Mike did everything in his power to make me feel both confident and comfortable, and assured me that we got some great shots.  I certainly still felt a little out of my league, but he was great to point out my strengths.  We were able to have some fantastic conversation, and it was inspiring to see that someone of his reputation could be SO genuine and down to earth.  I may post a follow up based on those conversations - a few of the things that he said really struck a chord with me, and I think they're worth sharing.

By the end of the two days, it was evident that we were all exhausted, and on information overload.  It was also clear, however, that we'd formed some great new bonds.  I've been told before that the competition world is a tight knit family, but that became quite clear to me sitting in a room full of like-minded people who are already in the process of achieving their goals.

While my body may not yet be quite where I want it to be aesthetically, my mind is ready to jump in, which I think is half of the battle.  Now I'm going to hone in on what I really want, how I want to do it, and make it happen.  Get ready for big things from Mandy Mae Allen - consider yourselves warned!