Sept. 25, 2010

OK, so I have been pretty easygoing with the workouts this week... only one early morning all week, so today (Saturday) I decided I'll be back onto the crazy early morning workouts again!  Got up early and did a good 45 minutes of hard cardio this morning while I did my laundry and read the new FLEX magazine.  Now I'm on the computer checkinh out all the Olympia coverage on bodybuilding.com - awesome, they have tons of videos of the whole event.  Last night was the big ladies night - fitness, figure, bikini and female bodybuilding so it's all the totally inspiring stuff cause I definitely want to be competing there next September!!!  What a way to start my day - so many awesome bodies - WOW!  Got my eye on the prize and nothing is gonna stop me! I've also got some short term goals like trying to look in decent shape for the a few big dance shows I have coming up (one I heard I'll have to be wearing a samba costume in - oy!)  Here we go!!!!!

September 23, 2010

Well, it's been a while since I posted here!  My whole summer has been very busy, I've kept up with my wicked-fun workouts,but have been very off-and-on with the clean eating.  I was trying to learn to be a more regular person, not a competitor always training for a competition.  It was hard!!!  Although I have now decided on some fitness competition goals for 2011, I have made a commitment to myself to do it in a more long-term, healthy way this time.  My first competition will be UFE's Spring Bash on April 9, so I have about 6 months till then to lose about 20 pounds which I think is a good goal for me!  I really want to stick around my competition look (within 5 - 7 pounds) year-round.  I am giving up competing in the figure category all together and will only be competing in Fitness Model and Bikini categories so it's not such a big ripped look and will be more maintainable for me!  Most of all I really want to look fit year-round for my life in general!  Really dissapointed that I'm not at Olympia this weekend and I have made a commitment to be competing there next year!!! I promise to post more regularly here to keep you all posted on how it's going for me!

Thurs. August 26, 2010

Hey!!!!!

It's been a while since I posted here!  A lot has happened and I wanna update you all first... SOOOOO, I have decided to take some time off from competing in fitness and figure competitions.  I was prepping for one in June and it just was not feeling right.  I think I've screwed up my metabolism and mind a bit from doing too many in too short a time as well as not maintaining my weight throughout... I tend to lose quick for a competition, then gain it all back right after.  This is definitely not a healthy practise I know, so I have decided to take at least 6 months off from competing and work towards a more healthy and balanced lifestyle.  So far it has been ok, but I feel I let myself off the hook a whole lot when I don't have a scary deadline like a competition looming, so I have put on a bit of chub.  I am now working at losing that chub slowly and consistently by exercising (though not 3 times a day anymore) and eating right (my biggest challenge)!  I have come to the realization that I really just need to take my own advice that I give clients/students who want to make lasting changes to their body and life!  Summer has been awesome and I've been filling my life with other things to fill the void that competing left... playing with my son more, planning my dance and fitness classes, performing with my dance troupes, writing articles, working on a new site for my studio, and more!  I plan to keep you all posted on how my journey goes.  Someone said something wise to me when I said I'm trying to be LESS goal oriented in terms of competing (like not having a date for an upcoming competition so I don't have a bad type of pressure), and he said you just need to have a longer-term goal - like competing in a year and start working slowly towards it now (not a month before the competition how I tend to!)  I will keep this in mind as I set goals for myself and really stop procrastinating! You too?

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

So, my eating has been clean and my workouts have been hardcore for the past two weeks which I'm proud of... BUT... I'm experiencing something very new and irritating - very very slow results :<  Usually as soon as I start eating right and cut the junk I see huge fat loss results right away, but this time I'm just not getting the rewards I want for all this hard work.  I only have three weeks until my competition and I'm so far from my goal for it.  Maybe this is the universe giving me a few hard lessons 1) don't procrastinate! 2) don't let yourself get so far out of competition shape ever - eat clean year round! 3) be more understanding that lots can be going on with people's bodies and not everyone loses weight the same way even if they're doing everything right, and 4) it's not always playing the blame game when you try to figure out other factors (other than diet) that could effect fat loss. 

So, I'm trying to stay positive through this difficult time and realize I'm learning and growing through this process!  I have tightened up my diet even more this week by cutting carbs further and adding a bit more cardio.  I'm trying to think that if I don't make my ultimat goal for Aug. 7, I want to know that I did EVERYTHING possible to try to get there - no regrets (other than starting too late I guess)!  A little worried that I'm overtraining and undereating and that could be the cause of slow results - hmmm.... what can I do at this point though? I'm not gonna sit around doing nothing and eating more!  I am trying to take naps so I get some rest that way!  I'll keep you posted!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

OK, this week's vlog is up:

and if you've watched that already, this might bore you a bit...

sooooooo, last week was a bit of a write-off (other than a learning experience for me I guess). Yes, my eating was all over the place... some days would be full of junk, others were totally clean - it really was a mess! Then around Thursday I started feeling a bit unwell... my tummy hurt (and instead of taking a cue from this and eating well, I convinced myself I NEEDED carby carbs to settle my stomach) and I was feeling really exhausted especially in the morning when I usually hop outta bed for a good workout. I think it turns into a vicious cycle when you get off your regular healthy routine and start feeling yucky and then wind up not feeling like doing healthy things. I also was very busy over the log weekend with dance performances at festivals, classes, rehearsals, reno work at the studio, plus a bit of hanging out with friends and family. I managed to dehydrate myself pretty bad due to long hours of work over the weekend... I was going 8 or 9 hours without food and little water (which is VERY unlike me!) and I knew something was very wrong when on Sunday afternoon I started feeling dizzy and shaky! I started cramming all sorts of fruits and glasses of water down my mouth and was feeling better, still a little nauseous, but much better after that!

So my weight has not changed - I'm at 157 pounds still, but I have made a promise to myself that I WILL get to 155 by this Saturday no matter what!!! I got up early today and did a killer lower body workout wit da boyz in the gym and followed it up with 30 minutes of cardio. Will run to the studio tonight to teach my classes.

Feeling so much better today!!!

June 29, 2010

One of my body transformation programs just ended (a few ladies from the business upstairs from my studio were doing a private 12-week program together, then at the end of that three of them continued on with me for an additional 8 weeks to get further to their ultimate goals.) I LOVE to witness the change people go through not just physically, but in all aspects of their life, when they do a program like this. Yes, tons of pounds and inches were lost (one superstar lost over 40 lbs!)but more importantly, I hope my programs show participants that they have the power to change anything in their lives if they really put their mind to it! I am always super-stoked by all my student's progress - it makes me get all goose-bumpy when I feel like I'm helping people make real positive changes in their lives and of course it also keeps me totally motivated seeing them all working so hard towards their goals and dreams - LOVE IT!!!  If you wanna make changes like I've talked about here and work towards your dream body this summer, I have a new 12-week body transformation program starting next Saturday, June 10 - check out www.flowfitness.ca for more info! Or check out my 4-week free online transformation site with forum at http://www.mayada.ca/4-weektransformation/online_4_week_body_transformation%20main.htm

I just made a new vlog! In it I discuss a bit about my weekend, the power of positive thinking, as well as give an at-home upper body workout for you all to try!

My weekend in brief: Niagara Falls was great - so glad we weren't here for all the G20 stuff! I did stray a tiny bit from my clean eats, but nowhere near as bad as I usually would be on a weekend at the Falls or even a typical weekend here! There were no sugar binges or pizza or anything too crazy... I did have a burger at T.G.I.Fridays - yum! And I tried those Dippin Dots for the first time too! I feel a bit bloaty and gross now after that day, but it wasn't too severe! I do feel like I'm finding a lot more balance in my eating (not being way to severe and strict and not eating pure garbage) so that's exciting to me as I'm usually such an all-or-nothing type of gal!

here's a pic that made me happy:

This pic was from Friday (Brasil-Portugal soccer game)... And it is an action shot of me dancing samba... I was a little worried about seeing the dancing pics as even when you're pretty fit you can look rolly and fat in movement shots where you aren't pulling up, everything is all loose and jiggly, and crazy twisting motions in samba make it really bad sometimes... but none of them were terrible, and I can even see a bit of ab definition in this one (I know there is still a little belly, but seeing improvement for sure!)

YAY!

Talk soon!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

I was very good diet-wise and workout-wise yesterday probably a lot of my success was because I was very busy and stayed home working all day. Of course being in surrounded by healthy food is easier usually than being out in the real world with all sorts of tempting stuff everywhere. I actually didn't even get all my meals in yesterday cause I was so busy trying to get lots of work done on the computer! Plus I got 2 workouts in! My food stats for yesterday were 1098 calories - 29g fat (24%), 140g carbs (50%), 70g protein (26%). So, the calories and protein were a little low, but still ok!

This morning I knew my condo gym would be closed again so I got up early and was all ready to run and workout outside again, but when I got down, it was pouring! I thought about going out anyways or doing a stair workout, but instead came back up and got a lot of computer work done instead! I will hopefully be able to run to the studio and do a workout there before teaching my noon-time boot camp class.

Tomorrow I'm gonna be in a little samba bikini for the Brazil soccer game so that's my short-term goal to stay on track this week, plus this weekend we're going away to Niagara and I wanna rock my bikini at a waterpark while there! I find I really need to have weekly small goals like this to keep me going! My goal for next week is to start teaching all classes with a midriff-baring top (starting Monday) - this is really motivating to stay on track daily! As well as being great diet-wise, I think I'm gonna need a Mystic Tan too - lol!

Check out my latest vlog including a at-home workout you can do: