8 Weeks out!

I am currently just over 8 weeks out from the FitX IFBB Australia Pro Bikini show and my prep is starting to ramp up. I am really excited about getting back up on stage and can’t wait to step on stage with one of my inspirations Nathalia Melo! I am more motivated and determined than ever and my goal is to bring a better package than my last competition.

This is the best contest prep I have ever had. My mind is in the right place and i’m ready to step on stage again. At the end of the day I am competing against myself and all I want to do is improve from my last show each time I step on stage. The sport is super subjective and is based purely on the opinion of others so always remember to step on stage with the body that you want and are proud of. As I am now competing in the pro ranks I don’t expect to place but each time I will learn something to take to the stage next time.

To tell you all the truth when I thought about getting on stage again I was faced with so much self doubt and the fear of failure. It doesn't matter if it’s your first competition or your tenth competition I think that some of these questions go through everyone’s head... Will my body hold up? Will I improve from my last show? Will I look the way I want to look? Can I even do this? These questions often keep you from realising what you are capable of doing. The most successful people in the world would have had these thoughts too but the key to success is pushing them out of your head, fill your mind with positive thoughts and just get on with it. Celebrate each little success you make towards that bigger goal. The first step you take means you are that much closer to your goal and what have you got to lose?

Contest prep definitely has its ups and downs but learn to enjoy the process and keep pushing forward! 8 weeks to go... lets do this!

Keep training hard!!

Are you becoming obsessed? Live life a little!

So you want that perfect six pack, toned legs, nice glutes? This is something that we work hard for but how much is too much? There is so much in the media about anorexia, obesity and bulimia but not much information about exercise and healthy eating obsession, also termed as orthorexia nervosa, which I believe is just as bad. This is when you begin to obsess about every workout, every meal and it transforms into an unhealthy addiction.  This is something that I spoke to women about recently at a seminar and it’s something that I feel strongly about.

I am definitely dedicated to what I do and absolutely love healthy eating and fitness. When I am competing I am 100% focused on the end goal but if I ever begin obsessing about every little thing then I take a step back to re-evaluate as this is when it begins to get unhealthy. Time and time again, I have seen women get obsessed with exercise and healthy eating. There is a HUGE difference between prepping for a competition and living a healthy lifestyle.  Prepping for a competition is for a short amount of time, usually 12 weeks with a very strict diet, and if you are competing stick to this as much as you can to have the best end result. However, living a healthy lifestyle is about maintaining that type of exercise and nutrition for your life. If you are obsessing over having a slice of cheesecake, are you really living your life? As long as you eat these treats in moderation you will be fine.

Too much exercise and the body will begin to break down and you will be more susceptible to the flu. Removing whole food groups for an extended period of time can actually have a negative effect on the body and you may not be as healthy as what you think you are. Remember why you started exercising and healthy eating, it was to lead a healthy lifestyle and once it becomes an obsession this is no longer the case and you may be doing your body more harm than good. This can also put a strain on relationships as people begin to avoid friends house or restaurants for dinner.

Just remember that we are all real human beings, if you have been eating healthy the majority of the time and eat piece of cake don’t feel guilty, savour that delicious flavour. Have fun, live life a little and lead a healthy lifestyle! 


Here's a pic of me with some of the women I spoke to xx

Tips for avoiding post-comp blues!

After months of hard work, you have done it! You stood on stage wearing a sparkly bikini, tan, false eyelashes, clear shoes and gave it everything. You competed, you were in the best shape of your life and it felt great but now what! You’re back home, your skin is all patchy from the tan and you can feel the weight creeping back on.

Suddenly after all of those weeks counting down to the show , it is all over. You can be left with post contest blues where you can feel quite lost and unfocused. This is very common. The cookies, chips and icecream overload doesn’t help and it can be quite scary thinking what is next?

After coming back from Pittsburgh, not performing at my best, I was left thinking what should I do next? As soon as I got back to New Zealand I begin to write down some new goals to keep me focused and to keep me motivated. I decided to learn as much as I could from the experience, leave it in the past and focus on my next goal. 

Below are some tips to keep you focused:

Get Back Into the Gym: Do some light training and slowly get back into your routine. This will help keep you positive and will stop you from feeling that you are gaining too much weight. It also means you can start work on your weaknesses straight away to make sure that you improve for next time.

Focus on your next goals: It is important to establish some more goals and to keep working towards them. This doesn’t have to be competition goals; it can be life, work or other goals.

Keep your Diet Clean: While you can have some treats, try to keep your main meals clean. Since coming back from Pittsburgh, I will admit that I have had desert most nights but I have kept most of my other meals clean.

Spend time with your loved ones: During comp prep it is very hard to find time to spend with your loved ones. It is important to make sure that they know how much their support meant to you during your prep. Have fun and go out for a nice dinner with them and enjoy it!

Make sure that you have some goals in place after your competition to keep you focused and remember at the end of the day it’s not all about competing, it’s about living a healthy and happy lifestyle.

The fun adventures of my first pro show!

I just arrived back from the Pittsburgh Pro at 5am yesterday morning and then went straight back into work and into my normal routine. I am very exhausted! I loved the Pittsburgh Pro and although there were many disasters, I am still happy to have stepped on the stage as a pro and I now know what I need to improve on for my next show. Every thing you do in life, no matter if it turns out good or bad, is a learning experience, take everything you can from it to better yourself and return stronger than ever- this to me is what it takes to be a champion.

My pro debut started with many hours flying in a plane and as many of you know, when you are days out from a show flying on the plane is not the best. After stopping in LA, we picked up some chicken and steak to take on the way... next thing we know it is leaking all through the airport... meat juices leaking everywhere! Moe went to throw one of the bags away and people kept asking me if I knew it was leaking and I just replied “Yes he has gone to find someone to clean it up”, we then quickly ran through customs and then cleaned in all up with plastic bags on the carpet next to bins haha! Next time I think we will take some containers. We then proceeded to the gates only to find that apparently our seats had been taken but the flight attendants figured it all out and finally we boarded the plane.

Moe and I arrived in Pittsburgh many hours later, it is a beautiful city! We stayed in the host hotel and the atmosphere was buzzing with all of the athletes everywhere. I went to the competitors meeting that night and every woman looked amazing. It was awesome to see some of my inspirations in real life. That night I got my spray tan by Jan Tana and then got locked out of my room wearing only a big old t-shirt and guess who happened to walk past... Phil Heath. He was staying in the room next to me and it was slightly embarrassing standing there locked outside my room!

One of the highlights of my trip was sitting in the room with Adela Garcia (5x Miss Olympia Fitness) and Sonia Gonzales (Miss Bikini International 2012 and Miss Bikini Olympia 2010). They both are such beautiful people and helped me with my posing. I thank them both for their help and advice.

The day came around and I was ready to hit the stage but wait... my tan had gone green! It was only an hour before I was set to go on stage and I didn’t have enough time to fix it, I just had to go hulk styles and do it. To top it off, the makeup made me look like I had red dirt on my face and my hair style all fell out. Now if that’s not bad luck I don’t know what is. Every possible thing went wrong but I still went out there and competed. It was a great learning experience for me and one that I will never forget.

After pre-judging I went back to the hotel and Moe fixed up my tan so that I at least didn’t look green for the night show. After the night show we went out for a delicious dinner... now this was no ordinary ride to the restaurant. I was squished in the middle between Kai Greene and Moe ElMoussawi with Dexter Jackson in the front of the car. Now if you have never seen Kai Greene in real life, this guy is huge! He is also one of the most down to earth guys and kept apologising for squishing me. I had four plates of delicious dessert that night – post comp treats. We started to walk back to the hotel to catch our flight at 4am and we got lost. When we finally found our way back to the hotel, our taxi driver forgot to come so we nearly missed our flight. Running through the airport, Moe had to nearly save a woman from being crushed by a door, then we grabbed some post comp treats and we got on the flight just in time.

It was such a fun adventure and I am so grateful to have competed on a pro stage. While the result may not have been want I had wanted, there is a reason for everything happening to make me learn, to make me stronger and to make sure that when I come back to the stage again I will be better than ever!

Thank you NZIFBB for this amazing opportunity and thank you Moe for everything that you have done and for all of the laughs.

And thanks to all of you for your support! x

Prep for my pro debut at the Pittsburgh Pro.... 6 days to go!!

Hi All,

I thought I would give you all a small insight into my preparation for my pro debut at the Pittsburgh Pro. I am very excited and honored to be competing in one of the top pro shows in America and undoubtedly the world.  

Some of you may know that the Pittsburgh pro show is highly regarded and is run by the legendary Jim Manion. It is a great show to start off my pro career as I will be competing with some of the top bikini pros and it will be a great way to see where I am at and what I need to improve on. I am so honored to be stepping on stage with some of my idols and women that inspired me to compete in bikini including Jaime Baird, Dianna Graham, India Paulino, Heather Nappi and Tawna Eubanks. To be just stepping on stage with them is a dream come true and is motivating me to do the best I can and make New Zealand proud.

This show prep has probably been the hardest on me mentally and physically. Anyone who has competed in a show will know the emotions that you have running through your head right until you hit that stage. I am blessed to be surrounded by an amazing support network who have eliminated any doubts that I have in my mind and kept pushing me to reach my goal. I am more motivated that I have ever been and have been training very hard to gain muscle and display a better package on stage.

In the last few days I have shaken my routine and added in cardio sessions and dropped carb intake. For my Arnold preparation I didn’t do much cardio so it has been good to be able to mix up my routine and see how my body reacts. When that last rep or minute of cardio is too painful, I push through the pain barrier knowing that I have a mission to achieve – to be the best that I can be!!

Thanks to my amazing family, friends and partner… you continuously inspire me, push me and encourage me to be the best I can be. Also thanks to my partner for watching me doing my posing for hours and helping me to make sure that my posing is perfect when I hit the stage. I would like to thank Nutrigenix and NZIFBB for their continuous support. The Nutrigenix supplements have definitely helped me recover from my hard training sessions!

I fly out on Wednesday and compete on Saturday. I am excited, motivated and inspired to do my best!

Thank you for all of your support and for believing in me xx

PRO CARD!!!

I am very excited to announce that I have received my pro card.

It is a dream come true and a goal that I have been working towards. Thanks NZIFBB, Moe and Nutrigenix for this amazing opportunity, I am so grateful and honoured. Also a big thanks to the people who have supported, inspired and been there for me on this exiting journey.

I am competing in my first pro show in 2 weeks and I will be the first nz bikini pro to compete.

Never give up on your goals and dreams, they will come true if you work hard xx

Dealing with peer pressure and staying on track

Peer pressure is something that I deal with on a daily basis- from my colleagues at work tempting me with cake to feeling pressured to skip workouts to go to events. While I have never been the type to be peer pressured into anything, it still happens and is something that we all have to deal with.  I am lucky to have such a great support system who encourage and motivate me to aim for the top.

Growing up I was always the girl that ate McDonalds for every meal and could eat anyone under the table in an eating competition. When I first started competing, I had to change my nutrition to get my body into optimum condition but people couldn’t understand why I had to eat a certain way.  People would say “relax a little, eat this burger, eat that donut”. While it is important to have a few treats every now and again, sticking to your diet is what will create the body of your dreams – after all abs are made in the kitchen!

My parents are the most important people in my life and at first they did not understand my lifestyle and it left me upset and it felt like they weren’t supporting me. After feeling this way, I decided to sit down with them and explain the lifestyle, my goals and dreams, the reason why I wanted to compete and that their support is what would help me accomplish this. After doing this, I have had their full support and understanding – they even ask me for tips!

I suggest talking to those closest to you about your goals and ask them to not tempt you with food that isn’t on your plan. There are many times when I have to sacrifice going to see my friends, partner and family, to go to the gym and I am lucky that I have the support and understanding from them. Education is also key. If the people closest to you understand the lifestyle, they will be able to support you better on your fitness journey. 

Most of all go out there, do something towards your goals every day and do what makes you happy. If it makes you happy, this will reflect on others.