Where to from here?!

Wow what a journey! As promised, the progress photos!

Some things I learnt on this journey...

*If you follow the rules, do the workouts and eat the chicken, the results will come!

*However tired and hungry you may be, it's not a good excuse to be impatient and grumpy with others. I wish I knew this at the start - something for me to work on!

*Sometimes, the numbers don't matter. If your body is changing visibly but your body fat is still reading high, IT DOESN'T MATTER!

*Bodybuilding is expensive!! Save, plan, ask friends if they will help with hair and make-up!

*Go to shows, watch the class you are entering, look at photos.

*Practise pays off! Routine. Posing. Routine. Posing. x 1 million

*Cardio pays off! Cardio cardio cardio :P

*Find a friend who is also waking up at 6am to get on a treadmill. Texting and walking makes time go quick! Or multi-task.. study, text, listen to music and walk on a treadmill. Boom. Cardio done.

*Try out your tan before you put it all over yourself. Sometimes you turn green. Not even joking.

So where to from here??

After a week feeling bloated, having sore tummies, feeling tired, having skin breakouts, food cravings and feeling like a balloon, I realised how over rated "unhealthy" foods are... Don't get me wrong, I am definitely going to have chocolate and red wine from time to time and can't bear the thought of black coffee (until next comp prep!) but clean eating is what I want to do.
Oats, tuna, chicken, salad, veges veges veges galore, bananas, steak, bok choy, dare I say it... CAULIFLOWER, salmon, rice cakes, berries, protein shakes.. they all seem like better options now that I know how my body operates with sub-par nutrition.

The most exciting part is introducing different flavours into my cooking now that I can have more variety. Curried cauliflower and chickpeas anyone?

Mine didn't quite look like this :P

Maybe some honey-soy glazed salmon? I used a recipe from a class-mate but it was very similar to this one! Team it with some bok choy... Delish!

I've caught up with Michelle for a post-comp plan.. we pinched, weighed and talked food, as we do.

The plan is to stay at a healthy body weight over summer. This means a higher body fat than what you see in my competition photos - more sustainable (and less boney!) while still looking fit! I've never been very good at "maintaining" my weight, always been more proficient at either losing weight or gaining weight so bring on the challenge (as well as a flat tummy for bikini season!)

And next year?? More more more!! The dates for next years shows have started to come out so it will be a matter of working out the best timing with school and exams. Can't wait!

Remember that photo shoot Kurt and I won a while ago with Jennifer? Here is a couple of sneaky pics...