Post-Competition Blues

You read all of these blogs talking about people and their journeys into bodybuilding and healthy living and those are fantastic! You get motivated and inspired and it’s a lovely sense of community in the bodybuilding and competition world.

But once the competition is over, the blog posts stop completely or they change gears to something else like a new fitness endeavor or another life journey (I’m totally guilty of this.)

It’s been exactly one month since my competition and I have been through some ups and downs post-competition.

The hardest part being the eating. 

During my first two weeks post-competition, I was pretty good at sticking to my eating clean. I had a couple of cheat days per week (when I visited those restaurants downtown.) Although, I wasn’t too religious at the gym. I was just taking ‘er easy and spending my time rollerblading or hiking and enjoying the late-blooming beautiful spring weather.

Obsessed with my new kicks. Sneaker wedges are essential for the gym babe!

Then things switched up a bit. The last couple of weeks, I had been more lenient on my eating plan (eating way less clean), including indulging in bread (!!!!!) and some bulk candy. (My vice, apparently.) But I also was more dedicated to the gym and was lifting crazy heavy and reaching PBs left, right and centre.

(I hit 165lbs on squats, 270lbs on leg press and 95lbs on bench press. I even successfully did four pull-ups!) So that was a definite ‘good’ during this post-competition experience.

However – obviously – I have gained weight after the competition. (It is both unhealthy and impossible to retain your stage weight and body fat percentage. For one, I was eating less than 1,000 calories a day and severely dehydrated.) I have never been one to let the scale dictate my life, but it has become somewhat of an obsession for me. Watching my weight climb slowly back to just below my 14-weeks-out weight is very difficult, especially mentally.

But the strange thing is I still feel good about how I look for the most part. Sure, I don’t have my shredded abs anymore and I’ve probably gained an inch back on my waist (and my chest is not so flat anymore. Bonus!)

Bikini Bod (2 weeks Post-Comp.)

I’m sure it could have been a lot worse and I could have binged a lot more and been put in a lot more difficult of a situation — like gaining more weight than I had originally lost. Plus, this wasn’t about losing weight. It was about challenging myself and transforming my body and healthy living outlook.

I’m eating cleaner as of this week and planning on continuing my lifting heavy regime at the gym whilst challenging myself at the gym.

(Tonight is legs and I’m going to attempt my first Smith machine-less squat. I’M GOING TO ENTER THE BULL PEN UNMANNED. JUST ONE WOMAN IN A PAIR OF SPANDEX. I’ve never used the power rack before except for dead lifts so this is a big deal, okay?!)

Now that I have more control on my eating plan and I’m back in the swing of the gym routine, I just have one more obstacle to conquer: my digestive system.

I’m not sure if I had mentioned before – I probably have – but I thought I had developed an egg intolerance nearing the end of my training. Post-competition, I went for a check-up with my family doctor and she suggested I get blood work done. Results came back that I had elevated liver function. Almost like a trigger, the day I heard those results was the day I started to get digestive problems – severe stomach pains and lots of bloating. I did a follow-up blood test yesterday morning and I’m awaiting results.

But yesterday I was feeling terrible. (I had eaten a few macaroons at lunch, but still, I had eaten them on Friday and I didn’t feel this way.) I had severe stomach pains, a noticeable pounding heart, chest pains, my back hurt, I was lightheaded, bloated and I think I went to the bathroom 15 times yesterday. Normally I feel better on my train ride home but I was almost doubled over walking to my car in discomfort and pain.At the suggestion of my dear old mammy, I went to a walk-in clinic where the doctor presumed my pounding heart was from PMS. (Uhhh…what? I normally just get bad cramps and a bitch attitude, so I’m not sure about this.) She suggested I try out Iberogast – a natural remedy endorsed by the ‘GI guys’ – for my stomach symptoms. Iberogast is a liquid that you drop into water (or shoot it straight!) with your meals three times a day and it is usually given to people with mild IBS.

Needless to say, today I feel so much better. I ate a lot more fruit and trying to drink more water to help my poor old internal organs.

So, I guess I just wanted to share my post-competition experience and struggles, so maybe if you experience the same thing, you know you’re not the only one!

Now I’m off to scare the boys in the weightroom. 300 pound leg press here I come!

I have become super veiny post-competition. LIFTING HEAVY AND STUFF.

xx

CSI: Clean Snack Investigation

Hello again, beautiful minions.

So my mom went to a breast cancer fundraiser (Ladies Out Laughing) on the weekend and brought back a huge goody bag of treats. In the bag there was a ‘healthy’ bar and I packed in my lunch today and decided to write about it, like I did for the Vega bar yesterday.

What is it? 

The SimplyBar in Cinnamon Pecan

Nutritional information:

Calories: 160

Fat: 4g (0.5g saturated)

Sodium: 140g

Potassium: 60mg

Carbohydrates: 16g (Fibre: 4g; Sugar: 3g)

Protein: 16g

Ingredients – ONLY 10!:

Soy crisps, organic brown rice syrup, inulin, cashew butter,vegetable glycerin, organic pecans, cinnamon

Fun fact:

Developed by a Canadian woman (woop!) Cathy Richards. She developed the Simply brand 10 years ago. At age 12, Cathy was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and struggled to find something nutritious and filling to snack on.

The Simply mission?

“…to make healthy snacks for busy people.”

Bragging Rights:

• NO fructose or sugar alcohols
• Dairy and gluten free
• Certified non-GMO
• Vegan
• Kosher
• Low glycemic
• Easy to digest
• 20% of your daily iron intake

Cost?

$10 for a sample pack of four or $30 for a box of 15

Flavours?

• Cinnamon Pecan
• Cocoa Coffee
• Cocoa Raspberry
• Lemon Coconut
• Peanut Butter Chocolate
• Caramel Peanut

Okay this SimplyBar is way more delicious and nutritionally more beneficial than my Vega bar yesterday. (And coming in at $2/bar, as well.) At first, it had a pet shop-type aroma – wood chip-y and ‘natural’ (but I guess that’s the point – ha!)

But it tasted pretty good and didn’t leave that gross artificial-sweetener aftertaste in my mouth. And it had lower sugar content AND more protein than the Vega bar.

Disclaimer: Yesterday I received some news after a post-competition blood test that I had some elevated liver function (possibly from my high-protein diet) and yesterday afternoon I was feeling ill after eating the Vega bar. Could have been the buckwheat in the bar, but whatever it was, my digestive system wasn’t having it. So yesterday I wasn’t feeling the greatest and now I’m all worried about my poor liver. (I was looking forward to some drinks this weekend!) 

Anyways, so far, this bar hasn’t irritated my digestive system. I feel at ease that this bar was developed by an individual who had a gluten-sensitivity herself. (Many people don’t know that wheat also comes in forms, such as barley, rye, etc. Tricky!)

I’m definitely contemplating purchasing this bar and looking into some of their other products: protein chips and whey.

You can look at some of their products and more information here.

*Not a sponsored post. Just a girl trying to do some personal research into the health food industry. 

I guess I should end this post with a cryptic intriguing line as Horatio Cane would, but I haven’t eaten lunch yet so my brain is fuzzy.

xx

Did You Miss Me?

Ah, post-competition life. Super depressing, I’ll tell you that much! I wish I could afford to do more competitions but my work life and bank account could not manage any longer.

Plus, I’m trying to move out of the old home nest, if you know what I mean!

Anyways, my fave Aussie Skye recently wrote a post on protein bars and their nutritional value.

SPOILER ALERT: Most of the time, they’re just “over-glorified chocolate bars.” 

Like Skye mentions in her post, I’m also a sucker for protein bars. Most of the time, they taste so delicious and you get that feel-good feeling about being healthy and your super jam-packed Hulk-size intake of protein – HULK SMASH!

But in actual fact, you are indeed better off not touching those protein bars. Do you know what the first six ingredients are in those protein bars? More important, can you pronounce them?

This should be a general rule of thumb when choosing what to fuel your body with: if you can’t pronounce it, don’t put it in your mouth. 

Unfortunately this leaves us perusing the fresh produce and meat aisles – boooring. (With the exception of bulk, unsalted nuts and some canned items, like legumes.)

Anyways, since I’m not training for a competition right now, I’ve been much less strict on my nutrition – I eat fairly clean (no bread, no pasta, tryiiiing not to eat wheat – but dang you Starbucks and your delicious scones!)

Disclaimer: I’ve had a little bit of a weak streak with my training and eating as you can see from my nights out at Mexican and Southern BBQ restaurants. But as I’ve recently seen pictures of myself in a bikini from last summer, I have been successfully shocked into getting back on that gravy (free) train. Just because I’m single doesn’t mean I have to morph into Bridget Jones, thank you very much.

I digress.

So I have a severe sweet tooth and now that I’m not training, I’m pretty lax with it — hitting up the bulk section of the grocery store near my office is not a good time. I generally stick with small portions of dark chocolate almonds …and perhaps some sour jujubes. But today, I’m doing the no-sweets-except-once-a-week plan that I had pre-competition about post-competition. (You follow?)

So as I’m perusing the organic section, I see some protein bars: Lara, Clif, Power, KIND, etc. Thankfully my competition training has taught me to read the labels on all of my packaged foods (which means a 97% rejection rate for the poor souls.)

You ever see how much sugar is in those babies? A LOT. 

If I’m going to consume a packaged product, I (aim) to purchase products with ~10g of sugar (not from fiber). It’s nice to have a rule and gives you a sense of control over what you put into your body.

None of these protein bars fulfilled this personal requirement (reflective of my love life?! I THINK SO.)

Anyways, I decided to check out the Vega bars. The Vega Vibrancy Bar in Chocolate Decadence caught my eye as it boasted ‘raw and sprouted ingredients’ and it was gluten-free. I checked the label and sure enough, it wasn’t too bad:

Calories: 180

Fat: 7g (1g saturated; 2g Omega-6, 1g Omega-3)

Sodium: 130mg

Carbohydrates: 24g (Fibre: 10g; Sugar: 10g)

Protein: 10g

Ingredients: Sprouted whole grain brown rice (from chicory root), dates, organic agave nectar, raw almonds, sprouted buckwheat, almond butter, chocolate chips, hemp seeds, cocoa powder, Vega SaviSeed (sacha inch) oil, white chia seeds, brown rice crisps, natural chocolate flavor, sea salt.

If you are going to choose to consume a packaged protein bar, I’d have to suggest this one. Unfortunately, I’m a Sweet Tooth Snob, so this bar didn’t taste as good as I thought it would – but that’s what happens when you’re eating “healthy junk.” Personally, I think it’s pretty neat that the bar has Omega-6 and Omega-3 fats in them, because those are the good fats that our body rarely gets (especially those vegetarians/vegans that Vega is marketed towards.)

Drawbacks: kind of tiny and it was pricey at $2.99/bar, but what do you expect? “Luxury” health food ain’t cheap.

So if you really have an itch for some kind of sweet serenity, try the Vega bar. Your body will thank you for not choosing that Snickers/PowerBar/LaraBar.

*This is not a sponsored post. BUT IT SHOULD BE. (I’m trying to break into the fitness PR-Marketing industry. Help a gal out!)

On that note, later days.

xx

Sunshine Award

I am quite pleased at this nomination – I’d like to thank my mom, dad, whoever invented the Internet…just kidding. Thanks to Skye over in Down Under for nominating me for this lovely blog-y award – a fabulous way to spend my lunch break!

1. What’s your favorite childhood memory?

You’re going to think I’m the most boy-crazy lassie here, but probably going to school every day (from grade 7 until the end of grade 12) where I would get to see all of my varying crushes – heart racing, trying extra hard to get my hair straight with my grocery store Con Air straightener and my rookie attempt at applying “sexy” make-up.

And every May prior to my June dance show – costumes, rehearsals, running to the local coffee shop/convenience store for a sugar rush in leotards and tights attracting cat calls from men who were double our age. How thrilling!

2. Who would you like to meet and why?

I hate deciding things! Probably Idris Elba – so I could seduce him and make him my husband.

3. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

OMG I’LL BE ALMOST 29 IN 5 YEARS. Hopefully, I’ll be in my dream job (something in the fitness industry), maybe living in a cool non-Ontario city (Chicago, Vancouver, etc.)  and not having a breakdown that I am almost 30 years old. Aiiii.

4. What would be your ideal getaway?

Anywhere with a warm, beautiful beach; rivers flowing with booze and good food – away from civilization. Oh, and a sensual stud by my side feeding me coconuts and strawberries infused with 24K gold.

5. What is your favorite workout?

Hmm…it’s a toss-up between back and leg days. I, like Skye, really love/hate the leg press machine (I pressed 250 lbs yesterday, booya!), step mill (this booty is priceless thanks to this bastard!) and all of my back workouts. (Nothing sexier than a muscled back, fellas and ladies.)

6. What is your all time favorite movie for a lazy Saturday night in?

Hmmm…a psychological thriller usually is what I crave on a Saturday night or anything Denzel. (I can’t pick – I like to watch new movies on the weekends.)

I’D LOVE TO PAY IT FORWARD AND NOMINATE THE FOLLOWING BLOGS FOR THE SUNSHINE AWARD, AN HONOR GIVEN TO THOSE “WHO POSITIVELY AND CREATIVELY INSPIRE OTHERS IN THE BLOGOSPHERE”:

Love Laugh Sweat

We Are 2 Fit 2 Quit

The Sweat Project

My Fitness Model Journey

Here are the questions I’d love for my nominated bloggers to answer:

1. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

2. If you could have dinner with one person, dead or alive, who would it be? What would they order?

3. What would you tell your 16-year-old self knowing what you know now about life?

4. Who (or what) has transformed your life the most?

5. What is your favorite workout?

6. Chocolate snails or vanilla beetles?

Keep writing, loves!

xx

What’s a Hush Puppy? Electric Mud BBQ

The first thing I thought of when I walked into this culinary establishment:

(Sidenote: If you haven’t seen Beasts of the Southern Wild, I highly recommend it.)

Scene:

Warm, sunny evening. Side street. Discarded couches on the curb. Feeling hip. Cool exterior with benches outside. Bum fight going on about beer at the neighbouring LCBO.

Enter the restaurant. Tinier than I expected. Smells like barbecue sauce. One open table and a couple seats at the “bar”. We were ushered to the bar as there is two of us. (I will post pictures from Casey Palmer‘s blog post when he posts them. He had his fancy-shmancy camera and whatnot.)

Very concise menu in old-fashioned lettering on the wall with additional items (sandwiches and alcoholic beverages) on a handwritten piece of paper. We’re sitting in front of the guy who prepares the salads, cole slaw and dessert. Pretty cool to watch and he’ll talk to you and let you know that no, you cannot eat the crackers in the Tupperware in front of you because he uses them to bread things. But thank you for asking.

A sneaky peek-y of the non-kitschy cute menu. Whateva.

We can’t decide on a side (choice of cole slaw, hush puppies, crack rolls, pickles, salad) so we just nix a side for now.

(P.S. Hush puppies are corn meal “bites” drenched in butter and other lard-esque items.)

Casey and I order the brisket and southern fried chicken to share. The brisket comes super quickly – I am beyond impressed. It is tender, flavourful and the most delicious piece of meat I’ve tasted in forever. (Granted, I’ve been eating turkey and dry chicken breast for months now. This brisket was like an oasis in the Nairobi.)

It comes with this delicious sauce on a bed of cole slaw, but frankly, the brisket is so good without it.

Then came the southern fried chicken – 2 legs, 2 thighs – just the way I like it! This came with honey on the side to drizzle (delicately in Casey’s case; a hot mess for me.) The chicken had a good coating of fried goodness, but we agreed afterwards that we should have ordered two briskets.

1 of 2 iPhone picz

I’m a baby with eyes larger than my stomach so I was too full to stomach any more meat, plus I have a mean sweet tooth so on to dessert we went! The dessert menu consisted of hibiscus soft serve, banana cream pie and a mud pie.

Casey had a banana mud pie (we weren’t supposed to ‘publicize’ this but I’m a rebel!) – crushed Oreo, mashed banana, crushed graham cracker, and whipped cream with chocolate drizzle. I had the mud pie: coffee ice cream on crushed Oreos with chocolate drizzle and

OMG IT WAS SO GOOD.

Normally I dislike anything coffee-flavoured, other than coffee itself, but this was the most delicious soft serve ice cream I’ve ever tasted. It was tiny (and I’m gluttonous) so I wish I ordered two!

Other than the hypnotizing aroma of barbecue sauce and the mouth-watering brisket (which I dreamed about last night), I really loved the vibe and open concept of Electric Mud. There was Southern bluegrass-y type music playing on a LEGIT RECORD PLAYER on the counter which was a kitschy, hipsta touch. (Casey and I agreed this place was quite hipster.) 

And the kitchen was open, so you could see your food being cooked and prepared and as we were sitting at the bar, we were interacting with the culinary artistes, which is pretty much my favourite thing to do now. It makes the whole restaurant experience much better in my opinion — but I guess it helps that the Electric Mud staff were friendly, young-ish hip peoples — no jaded, old men/women who hated their lives (on the exterior anyways.)

And the grand finale: the bill. Not shabby at all. Another plus to this joint.

The cons (few and far between) would have been:

• very small – difficult if you were bringing a party of four or more
• only takes cash (there’s an ATM upstairs)
• the dishes don’t come with sides automatically – they’re extra ($3.50) but still
• small menu (perfect for people like me who can’t decide but some people need more choices or whatever)

So if you like fried food, a relaxed atmosphere and need the perfect place to kickstart your summer feel-good vibes, check out Electric Mud BBQ. (And it was one of my places to cross of my list! Bonus.)

They’re located on 5 Brock Avenue in Parkdale – a decent jaunt on the Queen streetcar from the downtown core.

Check out their Twitter, Facebook, Urbanspoon and Yelp.

Oh, and you might want to bring your own wet naps or moist towelettes. STICKY FINGAZ.

xx

 

Oh Margarita God: Playa Cabana Cantina

OMG (Oh Margarita God) was what I was exclaiming last night in the best Mexican place in The Junction (in my humble opinion, of course.)

My delicious marg.

Playa Cabana Cantina is the “spin-off” of Playa Cabana on Dupont and it is possibly my new favourite place. My co-worker/graphic designer/awesome new babe friend/best wingwoman suggested this place for its – ahem – attractive staff. Oh, and the burritos which are rumoured to be the size of “fat babies.”

I haven’t had this much fun drinking tequila since…well, never.

How do I love thee? Let me count the [reasons].

1. Mmmmmmmargaritas. So delicious.
2. These delicious margaritas – we ordered the Cantina Crossroads – come in pitchers. PITCHERS!
3. Do I need to emphasize number 2 again?
4. The Rabo de Toro Tacos (oxtail tacos) with batata frita (shredded fried sweet potato) are the most decadent things I’ve ever tasted. (First time having oxtail too. I went all out on the Adventure Scale. This is the Year of Grabbing Life By The Balls, remember?)
5. THE BAR STAFF ARE BABES.
6. THE BAR STAFF ARE BABES.
7. THE BAR STAFF ARE BABES.
8. The decor and vibe  is awesome – all exposed brick, Spanish-sounding music/occasional reggaeton, neon lights, tall tables and tall chairs.
9. The staff are not only easy on the eyes, but they’re incredibly friendly and mellow. (A refreshing change in this city, n’est-ce pas?)

We sat at the bar, because we didn’t make a reservation and it was jam packed by the time I arrived at 7:45. At first I was hesitant, because who likes to eat at a bar in front of the bartenders?! I know I certainly do not enjoy the idea. But as soon as I sat down, I was quite pleased that we were seated at the bar – my appetizer: some delicious eye candy.

Hubba hubba.

Arm wrestling the bartender. You really can’t take me anywhere.

Anyways – the food is really great and next time I go, I’m definitely going to try and attack one of the chubby burritos. (Check out the menu here.)

The cocktails are fabulous. The tequila is premium so it doesn’t taste like the sewage they serve at basic bars across Ontario/Canada/life. One of the bartenders, Casey — who has been with Playa Cabana since it first opened on Dupont — actually created the cocktail menu. (SO MANY CHOICES. Try and choose just one. I struggled.)

Oh, and I tried for the first time ever a Tres Leches. It’s a cake soaked in three different milks – condensed, evaporated and whole milk. I was hesitant at first, because I always imagined any sort of cake with ‘dulce’ or ‘leche’ in it to be creme caramel-esque and I HATE creme caramel. But oh my Juan, it was soooo good. Moist — yummy — sweet, decadent…I want a piece right meow.

Tres Leches aka My New Boyfriend (Photo credit: Teri)

Playa Cabana Cantina is located on 2883 Dundas St. W in The Junction. You can follow them on Twitter or check out their Facebook.

If you go, let me know what you think!

On to the next.

xx

Feel Good Friday

Despite my week of unobliterated happiness, I felt I needed a little motivational pick-me-up today (and I know some people out there who need one too.)

my favourite (soon-to-be tattoo)

I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves. Mary Wollstonecraft

Via Tumblr

All the reasonings of men are not worth one sentiment of women. Voltaire

via pinterest

Via Pinterest

Be intentional about the people you want in your life.

xx

The Most Surreal Experience

Let me warn you, this will be a long blog post.

So stop reading now if you don’t feel like creeping on my life any further.

(But, I mean, you’ve made it this far anyways, so you might as well.)

If you’ve been reading my blog posts for the past four months, you’ll know that I’ve been training/ranting/raving/eating for a fitness model competition, the IDFA Novice Classic.

Sunday was the day. 

Here are some pictures from my competition. (I don’t know how to embed them in here and I’m 50 shades of too lazy right now to do so. I’ll consult my IT/tech-savvy friend C. Palmer perhaps.)

Anyways,

Let me tell you, I have never been so nervous/excited in my entire life. Sunday’s competition was the best experience I have ever had in my entire life. It is safe to say that it changed my life.

…And I won third place in my division! You are looking at the IDFA Novice Classic Fitness Model – Short Third Place winner! It’s been almost 48 hours and I am still on cloud nine!

I have many people to thank for this amazing experience and I cannot forget a single one!

I’d like to thank:

• Colleen McConnell, owner and designer at The Crystal Suit who designed my beautiful suit (and for Bikini Biting my juicy booty twice before I went on stage.) Sweetest woman I have ever met and most beautiful competition suits ever!  You can check them out here.
  

  Colleen, me & Jill

• Jessica Cassidy from At Home Hair for doing my hair and make-up. She made me look like the beautiful fitness model on stage and my curls stayed in all day (which is basically a miracle for my fine hair!)
• My amazing and supportive coach Jill from Fit Bunnies Fitness  who was behind me every step of the way from creating my weekly food plans to my training program to my posing practice! Jill is the most motivating and inspirational coach a girl could ask for and I was so lucky to have her as my main cheerleader! TEAM BUNNY FOR THE WIN! I’m definitely going to go and support her when she competes in the IFBB Pro Show in June!
  

  Me and Jill!

• My friends. Even though I was kind of a crappy friend these past few months – being DD, going home early from the bar, not being able to hang out as often as I’d like, only drinking black coffee when out for lunch at a restaurant – for those of you who supported me, it was not forgotten! All of your hilarious texts and Facebook messages really kept me going! And I love that some of you have been inspired – from little ol’ me?! – to start/continue/amp up your fitness journey. I’d like to ESPECIALLY thank my hubby Carina who came out to my competition armed with the most beautiful flowers, encouraging cat calls from the audience and a delicious chocolate cupcake. I really appreciate that you came out to support me! (I was staring at you the whole time on stage…creepy as usual.) And my friends include all of you beautiful bloggers too! I couldn’t have been more motivated by your daily struggles which very closely mirrored mine!
  

  Me and Carina post-win!

• And last, but not least, my family. They dealt with me when I was low-carb bitchin’, when I was basically MIA at the gym, at work or sleeping; when I took over the kitchen on Sundays and Wednesday nights to cook my food; when I was eating my egg whites (Sorry to my Dad who developed a pregnant woman-like sensitivity to the odor. Hilarious, honestly.); and a big thank you to my mom who bronzed me up the day of the competition (highlight of her life I’m sure.)
  

  Ma, Vic, me and “Papa”

During my training, a lot of people asked me why I was doing this. My answer every time was: “to see if I can.” This fitness competition was a goal for me to work towards. I am not the type of person to sit idle while my life is passing me by. I need things to work towards. During my training, I was already planning my next goal to achieve post-competition. I’m basically go-go-go.

I know a lot of people don’t really understand bodybuilding and look down upon it (for whatever reasons they may have.) But as I said before, it really changed my life. If you asked the Paige from a year ago if I would be confident enough in myself to stand on stage in front of hundreds of people in a teeny bikini confidently, I’d tell you, no way José. Ask Paige from two years ago if she could do this and that no would be even more resounding. But I knew I worked my ass off (literally) and I knew I looked good so I strutted my stuff like the champ that I can confidently say I am. (Obviously the buzzword here is confidence.)

Note: If you have anything negative to say about bodybuilding competitions, keep it to yourself please. Lest I pop your bubble of happiness in a protein-fueled vengeance at your wedding or job promotion congratulatory lunch.)  

Competing in this bodybuilding competition gave me self-confidence that I don’t think I’ve ever had in my entire life. I feel like I can conquer anything - clichéd, I know – but it’s true. It was such a surreal experience and I can’t lie, but winning third place in my division definitely helped that confidence too. Recognition for all of the hard work I’ve put into preparing for this competition was just the icing on my amazing cake of an experience.

This competition has opened doors for other opportunities I may wish to pursue in the fitness world: promotional opportunities, fitness modelling, etc.

Who knows what will happen next?

The world is my oyster. [Insert Benny Benassi remix of Murray Head's 'One Night in Bangkok' here.]

I’m totally bummed that it’s over. I’m 30% relieved to not have to wake up at 5AM to do an hour of cardio every morning and be able to have a little milk in my coffee, but I’m 70% bummed. I have so much free time now and it’ll be hard to wrap my head around the fact that I won’t have a competition to look forward to while I’m leg pressing 200 lbs at the gym after work.

I’m definitely going to eat clean (with a few exceptions and cheats of course) and keep maintaining this lean body as best as I can. (While improving my weaker areas, like my whole left side of my body. Ha!)

Anyways, that’s a nice word vomit of all of my thoughts and feelings from the past 48 hours.

Until next time.

xx

Team Bunny!

Hello everyone!

numba 53!

Yesterday was my competition and guess what?

I place third place in my division (Novice Fitness Model – Short).

I AM THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE WHOLE WORLD.

I’ll post about my competition when I’m less wiped out – waking up for work was kind of a challenge this morning after being off for so long. (I even got a calf cramp…glorious Monday!)

Here’s a post my trainer, Jill posted about the competition yesterday. Brought a tear to my eye!

Check it out!

http://www.fitbunnies.ca/team-bunny-athlete-paige-mangialardi-places-3rd-idfa/#comment-54

I’ll post a link to my album later tonight.

xx

On Cloud One Thousand and Nine

2 More Sleeps

Sorry I’ve been MIA – crazy past few days!

My mortal enemy

I’ve been off work since Tuesday and it’s been a nice vacation – I’d prefer the beach, but hey.

On Wednesday, I did my upper body circuit at the gym with my 60 minutes of morning cardio, followed by my last minute grocery shopping and meal cooking. I went to Wal-Mart with my mom in the afternoon and – wow – I could really tell that my energy levels were down! My legs were tired and I was lagging in the parking lot with my Wally purchases. Felt like a total Grandma! I also started packing my bag for competition day. What’s in my bag you ask?

• Vaseline
• Competition suit
• Heels
• Pedialyte
• Plain rice cakes
• Theraband
• Jan Tana
• Almond butter
• Jewelry
• Hairspray
• And I’ll be adding some more food and my iPod for some pump up music

Yesterday was my hectic day! I woke up and did my last cardio in the morning and then went to my hair appointment. (Thanks to Krysten at Total Image who did an awesome job on my hair! I love being a blonde!) I then rushed to the gym to finish my last whole body circuit before my spray tan appointment. I killed my last workout and it felt good!

(I even committed my Cardinal Sin of working out: I worked out with my hair down for a bit, because I didn’t want to wreck my new ‘do. I know, I know. You guys can chastise me later.)

My spray tan was my favourite part about yesterday. It was my first time spray tanning and it was such a hilarious experience. I had no idea that you went bucko naked and got sprayed by the tanning “attendant” or whatever. (Thanks to Gold Tan for the awesome first-time experience! I’m considering going again for casual tanning. So much safer than a booth and it’s a much better colour!)

It’s safe to say that when I go for my next coat today, I’ll be less awkward and it’ll go smoother! And now I understand why a tan makes you look so much better on stage. My muscles POPPED once my tan started to develop. Number one reason why I need to move to an always-sunny place – I am a dime plus ninety-nine in my  summer skin!

Finally, my last duty of the day was to visit my coach and do a posing session in my competition suit. Once I put on my suit with my tan and new Malibu locks, my little sister told me I looked like a Barbie – always super supportive as usual. My family breeds affection and love, ha! My coach told me I killed the posing session and even taught me how to hold the trophy.

WE THINK POSITIVE AND VISUALIZE SUCCESS ON TEAM BUNNY!

Yesterday was my first day of dandelion tea as my water and it was also the start of my water depletion: one liter only! Dandelion tea is the most repulsive tea on the face of this planet. (It probably doesn’t help that I had to brew all 20 bags of tea and drink it super strong.) I wasn’t peeing as much as I thought I would be, but we’ll see today on my 500 mL. (I was such an ungrateful bitch when I had access to all the water my heart desired! I’m crying!)

Omigosh, I almost forgot – yesterday was my first day with carbs. I have never made such sweet, sweet love to a sweet potato before. It was bliss. And this morning was my first morning with carbs in I-don’t-even-know-how-long! I made baked oats (less water) and they were like a less sweet oatmeal cookie – divine!

So what am I doing when I’m not buck naked tanning or eating chicken or having a romantic relationship with a complex carbohydrate?

I’M WATCHING NETFLIX. OR NAPPING. WITH MY FEET ON A THOUSAND PILLOWS.

I started watching The Big C and it’s actually a really good show! Sad but hilarious. I recommend watching it – especially if you have any family member experiencing a battle with cancer. It really is very good.

I watched a shit ton of movies:

• Little Women – brings back so many memories of my childhood. My sisters and I used to rent this movie from the library on VHS!
• Sleeping with the Enemy – a 1991 thriller with a youngJulia Roberts starring as a battered wife. Also really good!
• The Good Son – a 1993 thriller (I’m going through a phase okay?!) starring wittle Macaulay Culkin as a total psycho and Elijah Wood. Also really good! Supah 90s.
• The Queen of Versailles – a documentary about the WestGate resort mogul and his wife and their $100 million mansion – the biggest in America – that they tried to auction off after the recession. Also really good, but the husband’s a total dick.
• Katy Perry: A Part of Me – yeah, yeah, yeah I’ve been wanting to see this forever. This was pretty good! I just love documentaries.
• Catfish – I watched this television show so I wanted to see the documentary which it was based off of and it was alright, I guess. I think it’s so strange that someone can be a pathological liar so easily.
• Young Victoria – starring Emily Blunt as Queen Victoria, this movie was really quite educational. I enjoyed it. Love me some British accents.
• Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging – I read these books when I was a preteen girly and this was a decent adaptation from the books.
• An Education – starring Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard in possibly the weirdest relationship ever. I remember wanting to see when it was nominated in 2009 for an Oscar. It was definitely a weird romantic film. Good, nonetheless.
• The Snowtown Murders – a very, very, very messed up movie based on a real-life serial killer in Australia. I think I got about 30 minutes in before I was way too disturbed to continue – and that rarely happens. Very dark.
• Gnomeo and Juliet – to heal my scarred mind from Snowtown Murders, I finally got around to watching this movie. Adorable and hilarious, I loved this movie! Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor are the best! I love British people.

More Netflix mini reviews to come! I’m probably going to watch more of The Big C today and I want to watch Pariah.

(I’m in hiding until the big day so you can’t see any pictures of me!)

Okay here’s a sneak peek of me!

xx