When I decided I was going to compete, one of the first things my coach said to me was, “You have to be patient.” In my case, patience with building muscle and patience with loosing fat. Things take TIME. Time = Things I Must Earn.   We live in such a ‘want it, need it, must have it NOW’ world. We demand instant gratification and when we don’t get it we’re not happy.   Remember dial up internet where it would make that noise (Brrruggghduderdurrr) you’d have to wait while it dialed in and the page loaded? Not anymore right? It’s click, click, bang - we can order the latest product from the other side of the world but we can’t yet order the fat off our thighs. (Has anyone else contemplated the unfairness of the fact that it’s so hard to lose weight and gain muscle but super easy to put on weight and lose muscle – C’mon?! )   Nowhere is the ‘want it NOW’ desire more highlighted than the ‘health’ ...

Last week we got to know a bit about Maria and her background in Body Building, how she got involved with ANB and how she kicked her love of KFC. This is part 2 of the interview!   - Do you have any funny/interesting stories from holding ANB shows that you could share? As you can imagine I have many people promise things but sometimes don’t deliver. Once it was from a person who had connections with a mainstream TV channel. They approached me saying they wanted to film my show and take all this amazing footage and it would take the world by storm etc… Now, I like to think I trust someone until the person actually does the wrong thing by me however thought I smelt a rat when he started asking for money for equipment. This guy talked so much about taking the movie to Hollywood as he had connections (I did believe he did have connections) that when the day came around I’m waiting, waiting, waiting. Our show started at 11am and on rolls 12,1,2 and then in rolls Mr Hollyw ...

Attending a show we get to witness all the amazing men and women who’ve worked so hard to sculpt their physiques, have had the discipline and dedication to train hard and eat clean to put their best body forward in some tiny trunks or a bikini. MUCH respect.   However, have you thought about what happens behind the scenes? What about the people who coordinate and promote the shows and who give us the opportunity to get up on stage and showcase our hard work?   In this weeks blog post I had the pleasure of interviewing the wonderful Maria who is from ANB Victoria and promotes and coordinates the shows. Maria kindly gave me some of her time to answer a few of my questions about ANB and herself so we have the opportunity to get to know a bit more about one of the faces who makes getting on stage possible.     I hope you in enjoy Part 1 of a 2 part interview with Maria.   - Can you please let us how you originally got involved with Body Building?   I started t ...

The other week I fell in a hole. Literally. I was walking along in the dark and fell in hole on the footpath. My foot twisted and instant pain. My first thought was ‘OW! Swear word’ my second thought was ‘My Training, nooooo! My dreams are over!’ That previous week I’d been on an absolute roll, all fired up and going well and the thought of a HOLE wrecking that was very upsetting.   After a few tears and some self indulgent worse case scenarios (do they let people with only one foot compete?) I pulled myself together and thought really, what is the worst that COULD happen, training wise? The answer was, not a lot. I may not be able to train legs? Big deal, I’ve still got an upper body that needs lots of work. What about if I couldn’t train for months? Well, there is always going to be ANOTHER comp.   The point is, sometimes things happen in life, things that may set you back, however in the scheme of things it is just a little hole in the footpath. We c ...

Facebook for Fitness. I am what marketing peeps call a ‘late adopter’ of technology. I am well behind the pack when it comes to adopting new technology and trends. When people at school were talking about an awesome song by Eminem I found it unusual that M&M’s had made the shift from confectionary to recording artist.  When people were getting excited about sharing their lives on Facebook I still didn’t have a MySpace account (RIP MySpace) I have no idea about Twitter, I just don’t get it. What’s with the #? And I still don’t have an IPhone (soon my pretty, soon!) Basically when it comes to technological trends I am a little cyber snail, travelling super duper slow! However, once I’m there I am usually pretty happy with what I find. (MP3’s are so much easier to handle at the gym than a Discman ;) At first, I avoided Facebook at all costs because, at worst, it seemed self indulgent and cringy– “LOOK AT ME! Here I am! Look at my la ...

I am officially 20 weeks out from my first ever competition. To celebrate I had spaghetti bolognaise and chips, which as everyone knows is perfect bikini model food. Nothing quite says ‘lean’ like a big bowl of hot chips.   When I decided to set myself the challenge of competing I knew that the diet was going to be the hardest part for me. Sure, lifting heavy makes your muscles burn and I may not be able to properly walk for a few days after an intense leg and glute session but that part seems easy compared to resisting the temptation of all that is FOOD! I recently filled out a questionnaire that asked me to list my 1) Favourite Foods. Answer: Pretty much everything. 2) Things I don’t like to eat. Answer: Parsley.    Some people eat to live, I live to eat.  My appetite has always been well and truly alive, something my husband will vouch for. He still (7 years later) loves to remind me that I spent the majority of our first date with sour cream on my face after get ...

 

Previous Sporting Achievements –

I am not the girl who has ever considered herself ‘sporty.’  My natural skin colour has been described as ‘Casper (the ghost) White’ so me and the QLD summer sun do not mix. In primary school PE sessions when playing T-Ball, I was the fielder who was at maximum distance from the pitcher, usually sitting down, hoping the ball came nowhere near me. In high school, I was blessed with a good friend who constantly got nose bleeds so that would get me out of PE. Despite my aversion for team sports I did actually do well when I tried.  Surprisingly, I’d often win an occasional ribbon or trophy at carnivals when my competitive streak would come out and say ‘Bring It On!’