Part II: My Journey

Part II: The competition day

The day has finally arrived: the day of the competition! I took support with me including two good friends and my BF that stayed over in the bungalow park close to the competition town (the full park was taken over by bodybuilders; can you imagine how this looks? :) ) I loved the thrill of knowing that this day I would shine on stage; this was the day I have trained for so dedicated and consistent. This day is why I sacrificed soo many things the past half-a- year. This is it!

At this important day, the stress level should be kept to a minimum in order to look at your best that moment on the stage (you want to make sure your body not holding any excess liquid). I had a perfect team around me supporting me and getting me trough the day. A good friend of mine is a top-hair and make-up artist that helped me getting ready. It was a honour that he wanted to do my hear and make-up this day! I really do strongly advise each athlete to bring a friend or pay for a professional to help with your hair and make-up as this relieves a lot of stress at the day itself! The tanning was being done by the professionals at the event. I have to say all went well, except for one thing: my tanning was striped! The day before the competition I used a scrub, that was apparently too intense and my body didn't recover from this, showing the exact direction of the scrubbing! (yikes!) Fortunately my PT ensured my we could cover this with oil and that this will hardly show on stage. He was there to get me ready the last minutes before the stage. Before going on stage, there was a lot of waiting, but I have to say this went quite fast. I just chilled a bit in the hallways, put my legs up and rested.

Than there was the moment on stage!...

I empathized the '.' here. Because, well, it was so quick! Just 5 or 10 minutes on stage, for the posing and the T-walk in total. When you worked so intense and dedicated for it, this time on the stage flies so fast! I did feel on top of my game at the stage; even participated in the first call-out (I have been told they like you than :) ) I was satisfied with the 6th place (out of 12) for my first competition, but I also had mixed feelings. The 6th place is not qualified for the B class (next level) competition. So unfortunately for me, I was not able to participate in a next-level competition next time, but had to compete in a similar competition again. What was a happy surprise though, was that they did call me on stage when announcing my 6th prize, even though normally they only call the 1st winner - the 5th winner on stage to hand over the prizes! #proud!

Part I: My Journey

Part I: Preparation time

Even though my stage-time was back in 2014, almost 1,5 year ago, I would like to share this story with you. 

My journey started when I took my BF to a fitness competition for his Bday. We went driving for about 1,5 hours all the way to the South of the Netherlands, where there was a A/B competition ongoing. When we arrived, we chuckled at the men, all tanned and swollen from the steroids (most of them at least). When arrived at the theater, I was however impressed when seeing the ladies on stage. The bodies were stunning and the bikini's  were beautiful, the one with more bling than the other! What I noticed, however, was that many girls seemed quite nervous on stage and that was showing in their performance. They seemed tense and did not act natural. The stage is to shine; own the stage! It was itching; I was eager to be on stage again (I used to perform when I was younger in dancing and acting, just as a hobby). I enjoy the spotlight and have missed the adrenaline rushing trough my body when going on that stage. The simultaneous feeling of power and vulnerability, being in the center of attention. The 'high' of being on the stage. But also the journey towards the stage, the dedication, the team-work (hardly ever you will do it by yourself). Standing for something, working dedicated; this gives you identity.  That place and that moment, that is when I decided I wanted to be on that stage.

I reached out to a PT, the best in it's class to help me to with my journey to the stage. While preparing, he provided the best physical advise and this really made a difference! It showed! My muscles grew, I got leaner (of course in combination with strict clean eating; remember; abs are made in the kitchen!) The past months, I thought I have been training hard already. I went to the gym 4-5x a week, did weight training and finished most times with half an hour - a full hour cardio. When doing my first training with my PT, I asked myself; 'what was I doing all this time'? This training was so intense; I lifted heavier weights than I ever thought I could lift, I did supersets, and it seemed that cardio was included in the full workout as the pace was so fast, it felt like my heart was in my throat! Wow, that is what you call a work-out. With 'just' 3 full-body workouts a week, mixing up with cardio (max 30min. High intensity a day) and clean eating, my body shaped more and more towards the body ready for stage.

Working hard! On my way to the stage...

Getting ready to run!

Zevenheuvelenloop

Lately I have been practicing my running very actively. I have two running competitions coming up where I subscribed for: the harbourrun (actually no running competition but an obstacle run) and the 'Zevenheuvenlenloop' (Seven-hills-run) where I will run 15k with a team from the company I work for. As I am not really a long distance runner, especially this 15k run is going to be a challenge for me!

My fastest run

This morning I went for a run and this happened to be the fastest run I have aver ran with my app Runkeeper! I ran more than 12k in 57 minutes! I surprised myself with this time!

I will keep on preparing myself for the competitions by going running next to lifting weights 3 times a week. I love to run in the mornings. If I want to do morning run during the week, this means I am outside at about 5.30 AM. Yes, it is early, but it feels like I own the city. At his time, Rotterdam, one of the largest cities in NL is so quite! Amazing! I normaly run about 5-8k in this early mornings.

On Saturdays I love to do a bit longer challenge, about 10-12k to build up the distance. I aim to do a 15k track next week Satutrday! Excited to see what it feels like!

Vincent and I at the harbourrun 2014

Guess who's back?

~ I have learned. Learned I need something to hold on to.
I have learned I need to live in the moment.
Not in the past that you cannot change, not in the future that might not be there.
Live in the moment and enjoy the journey,
wherever it is taking you... ~

For those of you that have missed me, I have not disappeared. I have been stuck though. Have you ever felt that you couldn’t move forward?
I have been dedicated for over a year to work towards my first bodyfitness competition. I trained like I never trained before, I ate clean, like never before. I was disciplined, dedicated, like never before. It worked, I built my body like it was never before.

When the day came of my moment of fame, I enjoyed it to the fullest! Had the best team to support me around, trainer, stylist, and friends for mental support. I felt like a real star! The day started early. I enjoyed my mashed sweet potatoes and a nice shower and traveled to the theater where I collected with all the other athletes, the one more beautiful than the other. I got ready in my bath rope for spray tanning and situated myself in a quiet corner; some relaxation with my earplugs in. Stress will do no good for your looks on stage, so I better relaxed! My hair done nails done, everything done! Then came the minutes I needed to prepare for stage. My trainer relaxed me, getting me ready with some exercises and final posing practices. Adrenaline!

First time on stage, I got called out for the first round! That sounds promising! I looked at the jury, smiled, and performed for the public. I did well! Next time on stage, bright shining lights aimed at me. I did my T-walk like I was born to do this. Calm, relaxed and fabulous. That went quick!

Then, I was just waiting for the results. I got called on stage first, 6^th place! Confusion arose in my mind; only the girls on the first 5 places will be accepted for the B class competition. Not me? But I was good enough to be there on the stage with the other winning girls! Feeling of pride, excitement and happiness! I did it! And I was satisfied with my performance on stage!

Feeling happy and tired after this long day, I thanked all my supporters and drove back home for a good night of sleep. Most girls craved for junk food the moment they get off the stage. All I wanted was just a good night of sleep. The first days after the competition, I went to the gym to do some workouts and eat relatively normal. Then, the cravings started and I took a break from training. I thought; well, let me give myself some rest and enjoy some sweets! Sugar is addictive, once we had some sugar, our bodies is craving for more. My body was not used to getting in food that high in sugar and in such large amounts. It reacted heavily and soaked up everything that I ate, resulting in a big, bloated me. This is really demotivating, especially since you have been in your best shape ever just a couple of weeks ago. I was ashamed that I gained wait this quickly and to go back to the gym to face myself in the mirrors there and was afraid for the reactions. That is where I got stuck. Stuck in the corner, for a little too long…

Getting out of this corner took time. Working towards a goal helps me. This is why I have been working on some goal setting for myself lately. It gets me motivated. 

There are a couple of challenges coming up! One if them is a photoshoot! Stay tuned for updates! 

Remember: 

My first Figure competition! Enercup 2014

Last Sunday was the big day! My fist figure competition!

I had a great first experience and enjoyed it very much. Although it was a very long day, I had a great time and looking forward to the next one!

This day couldn't have happened without the support of the people around me! Fistly, I would like to thank my trainer for his time and effort he has put into me. Without his knowledge and guidance I would never have looked this great on stage! Secondly, I would like to thank the persons that helped me practicing my posing routine. Also, I had the best hairdresser/make-up artist in the world to make me beautiful! In addition I would like to thank my boyfriend, friends and family for their support and patience! It is not always easy to live with a fitness addict! Thank you guys for all the support! 

I would like to share my experiences of the competition! 

The day of the competition began at 6AM when I stood up and had my breakfast: sweet potatoes with coconut oil. Not a bad breakfast I have to say! I had to be present at the event location at 8AM in order to receive my athlete pass and the backstage pass for my coach. Than we had to show our outfit; bikini and shoes; to representatives of the IFBB federation.

One of the preparations before going on stage is tanning. I choose to use the spray tanning service that was provided at the event itself. The morning I made sure I scrubbed my full body and face, so the tanning would look perfectly smooth. However, unfortunately the spray tanning resulted in a stripy mess!! Luckely, this stripes were less visible after using oil. On stage; it looked like a perfect tan!

I was very blessed that I had a great hair and make-up artist with me that came all the way to the event just to help me with my hair and make-up. I cannot imagine that I should have done this myself! Feld so blessed with my friend! J

There were in total three moments I went on stage. The first moment was the pre-judging. This was in the afternoon where I went on stage with the other girls from the bodyfitness category and we would stand in a line-up. Then we were called forward to show the quarter turns, after which we would return back in the line-up.

The second time on stage was my moment of fame: my T-walk. I was the first of my category to show my performance and this went well! I practiced a lot and I made as much eye contact with the jury as possible. Before going on stage both times, my coach helped my with oiling my body and warming up my muscles for the posing routine.

When these two most important moment on stage are done, the third time occurring on the stage is during the awarding of the prizes. I did receive a place in the finals! The 6^th place.

During the day I ate just a little, spread over the day; only when I felt I needed to eat something. The meals I brought with me mainly consisted of carbs, fats, and sugar. There is no need for protein on these days, because you are not building muscles. In addition, I avoided protein and fibre, because this might give a bloated feeling. So I ate some pasta, white rice, sweet potato, and nuts.

The event ended around 11PM; so it was a very long, but exciting day! 

I will definitely continue with my lifestyle. I know what I need to work on and aim to improve a great deal before returning on stage! Stay tuned for the rest of my journey! J

Update and more pictures photoshoot

Hi Guys!

Meanwhile I am 3 weeks out of my first competition. So my body has changes quite a bit already. Still working to get my fat% lower by keeping a strict food-schedule. Somehow, this seems more challenging lately ;). Also, I am very excited to start my new job this week! Meeting new people and finding more opportunities! I am ready to rock the stage (almost :))!

As promised, here are several more pictures from my photoshoot a couple of weeks ago. 

Have a great week and enjoy the pictures!

The competition: Enercup

Hi All! In this blogpost I would like to tell you more about how my preparations for my first Body-fitness competition are going. Also I would like to introduce to you; the Enercup! This is the competition I will will be competing in. 

Enercup

The competition will take place at the 5th of Oktober. This is only 25 days left! So excited and nervous already at the same time. Time goes by so fast! The Enercup is a beginners competition, they call this an 'open-C competition'. What it means is that everybody can compete in the competition. When you are ranked in the top during this competition, you can go to a B-class competition, and when you win such a competition you can eventually go to the A-competition. 

Preparation

So far my preparations for the competition are going well! Trainings are hard and doing cardio in between the training days. Also trying to keep to a strict eating schedule. This is what I find the hardest; still experiencing some cravings every day! I try to satisfy those with a nice sweet protein shake or protein pancakes. Work for most times! ;) 

Also, I have been shopping for my out fit on stage! I probably will receive it this weekend and go for a fitting. I just love the bikini's in the Body-fitness class with all the *Bling* and the high heels! Which bikini I choose is still a surprise! You will have to wait for the competition day!

Excited to share more of my journey the upcoming days!

Photoshoot results

This Saturday I had an amazing experience during my first fitness photo shoot!

Angels Of Steel

Currently I am 11 weeks out; with 18% fat, so still have some work to do! But I am getting there! 3x a week full-body workout with focus on my glutes and 3x a week high-intensity cardio. For cardio I do mostly indoor-biking, but I will take on a new challenge: walking stairs. If you know Rotterdam, you might know the Maastunnel (a tunnel under the river, de Maas). Think about these stairs... Yes! That is my new cardio challenge!

Thanks to JR Photography I have some amazing photo's to share with you. The pictures definitely show my progression in training. In this blog post I will give you a preview of the photo's. There are still a lot more to come!

Here we go!

Angels Of Steel

Angels Of Steel

Angels Of Steel

Fitness categories

Many of you have asked me: 'What is a fitness competition', and 'Will you look like a bodybuilder'? In order to answer these questions and more I am writing this post about the IFBB fitness categories for women, focussing on Fitness, the category I will compete in. 

The categories

There are different categories to compete in at the IFBB (International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness). These include the Fitness category (including Bikini-Fitness, Body-Fitness, and regular Fitness), Physique, and Bodybuilding. The picture below shows these categories and the corresponding body types. 

Overview IFBB fitness categories

In the text below, I will further explain the Fitness category.

Fitness

The first category is Fitness. There is 'bikini-fitness, body-fitness, and regular 'fitness'. The Bikini fitness subcategory requires the fewest muscles from all categories. The preference for this category is a sporty look, without visible lines of muscles (only the abs may be lightly visible) The posing on stage exist in the form of a line-up with front- and backposes. The ladies wil be judged on general presentation, tanning, and looks. Below, you can see a picture of ladies from the Bikini fitness class. 

Line-up Bikini fitness category

Brazilian Bodyfitness athlete Janaína Ferreira

Another subcategory is body-fitness. This is the category that I will be competing in. The category was added in the year 2002 by the IFBB, in order for women to compete by only physical rounds (so, posing on stage). there are for categories per length: 158cm, 163cm, 168cm and >168cm. During the competition, the ladies will do the T-walk: walking to the middle of the stage and do a frontpose, backpose, and frontpose. This T-walk is individual. In addition, all ladies come on stage and will be compared in the front-, side- and backposes. The ladies will be judged on general presentation, so not only on physique, but also looks and presentation on stage.

Line-up Bodyfitness category

There is also a subcategory 'Fitness;, where the participant will, next to the T-walk and line-up, also perform an act on stage such as acrobatics or circus.

My competition

I will compete in the Body-Fitness class. Why? Because that seems a challenge that suits me. It requires lean muscle mass, and a low fat% (about 12%) and a good performance on stage during the T-walk. With my dance experience in the past, I think I will perform well on stage and this is my opportunity to shine! :) The other category I considered is the Bikini-Fitness class. However, this body physique requires less muscle mass and thus requires more focus on cardio and lean eating rather than heavy weight training. I prefer weight training way better than cardio, and thus the Body-fitness training scheme looks way more appealing for me! I can do this! You can do this too! Let's rock the stage!

Source: www.ifbbnederland.nl/wedstrijden/klassen

Goals for July

Read about my goals for July!

As I mentioned in one of my earlier blogposts, setting goals is key to succeed 

(see angelsofsteel.blogspot.nl/2014/05/FirstthingsfirstMental.html). 

For this start of the new month I have set a couple of new goals I would like to share with you. My goals are: a lower fat%, tracking my food, increasing the weights of my training, and more cardio.

Lower fat%

The main goal for this month will be to decrease my fat%. Right now, I can really see the shape of my body changing, forming and growing. However, I would like to see more definition, for example my abs. This is done trough cutting your fat%. Therefore, my aim is to have my fat% by 16% at the end of this month. Currently, I think that my fat% is around 20,5%, based on a measurement last month. This means that I will have to loose about 1,2% of fat every week. Should be feasible! I am going for it!

Abs are made in the kitchen

Your abs will never show when you have a high fat%!

Like many competitors will tell you; abs are made in the kitchen. You can do a million ab crunches, leg-lifts and other ab workouts, but when you have a layer of fat on your belly; these amazing muscles will never show. Therefore, you need to adjust your diet! Eat frequent, small portions of clean food. Currently I am eating about 6 times a day. Every day I take carbs in the morning, and on weight training days (3x per week) I take complex carbs pre-work out and simple carbs post-workout. 

However, what I didn't do so far is measure the exact proportions of macro nutrients (carbs, fats, and protein) and the grams accordingly. This month I will keep track of it every day. For this purpose I will use 'Mijn Eetmeter', this is an app that allows you to easily track the foods and nutritions that you ate for a specific day and makes nice overviews of this. 

Increase weights

When working out in the gym, I focus on a full-body workout 3 times a week. Firstly, the larger muscles, and thereafter the smaller muscles. Since my problem area is my glutes, this is where I start my workout with because that is the moment I have the most energy. My goal for this month is to slightly increase the weights I workout with, especially for my leg and glutes training like deadlifts, squats and hip thrusts. My goal will be to increase the weights with 10kg for both the deadlift and shqats, and using the tougher orange resistant belt (instead of the black) for the hip thrust for 3x12 reps in a superset. 

Cardio

Cardio is incorporated in my trainings 3 times a week for 20-30 minutes. I will, in order to reach my goal of a lower fat%, focus to complete 30 min high intensity cardio 3x a week. In addition, when in the case I have not incorporated interval training in my weights training, I will end the training session with 20x stair walking (well, actually running) or 10min high intensity biking. So: More cardio for me this month!

What are you waiting for? Make July your B*tch!

I am going for it! What are your goals for this month! Let me know if I can help you with reaching your goals and if you have any questions for me! I will keep you updated about my progression!

Now... Make July your B*tch!

Why sleep is so important

During my research about muscle growth, I stumbled upon a very old article from 1968 about the presence of the growth hormone during your sleep. It is said often to me that rest is very important in order to stimulate muscle growth. I was wondering how this worked, and how sleep affects the growth of the muscles. And this article actually gave me some answers. 

The growth hormone

The growth hormone stimulates, among others, the growth of cells and the regeneration of cells. This thus has an effect on your muscle growth. This is why taking in extra growth hormone is popular by some athletes. However, there is no scientific evidence that taking in extra growth hormone improves strength and/or speed. But, research did show improved lean muscle, decrease of fat, and more muscle mass as a result of the growth hormone. Also it showed that the use of the growth hormone stimulates storage of water in your body. So, the growth hormone could assist in moving fluids away from fat towards your muscles. Lucky us, that our body provides us with this great hormone!

The growth hormone during sleep

The natural production of growth hormone is highest in stage 2 and 3 of your non-REM sleep. Non-REM sleep stands for non Rapid Eye Movement sleep and usually is 80% of your sleep time. Non-Rem sleep has four stages of which stage 1 is very light sleep and stage 4 is very deep sleep. Stage 2 is a period of light sleep, where you have periods of muscle flexion and relaxation. This is the stage that the body is preparing to go into deep sleep. When you wake up and you are a bit disoriented, you usually just woke up from sleep stage 3 or 4. 

Go to bed in time!

In the graph below, you can see on top the stages of sleep and the according lever of growth hormone in each stage as the sleep continues. At 11PM you can see the largest peak in the natural production of the growth hormone. At his time, the person is in deep sleep as you can see (stage 4). Another peak can be observed at 2.30AM. Again at this time the person is in deep sleep (stage 3). This graph shows that at the beginning of your sleep, when you are in deep sleep, the production of the growth hormone is greatest!

For contrast, the graph below shows the production of the growth hormone for a person that goes to bed late (delayed sleep). In the graph you can see that production of growth hormone is very limited over the whole night. Even though this person does reach the deep sleep stage (stage 3), it does not product much growth hormone. This shows that going to bed early stimulates the production of the growth hormone to a greater extend! So, up to bed your go! 

Good night!

Source: Takahashi, Y., Kirnis, D.M., Daughaday, W.H., 1968. Growth Hornone Secretion during Sleep. The Journal of Clinical Investigation, 47. pp 2079-2090

First things first; the magic 4: Mental

Mental health and motivation is priority

If something is very important to keep you going, it is mental health! In this case, with mental health I mean general well-being, feeling good, and being motivated to reach your goals. It sound very obvious, but we are not always standing still by the fact that your well-being effects everything you do in life. For one moment, try to stand still what drives you in life. What makes you who you are, and what do you want to become in the future? What is your goal? When defining your goal, try to make your goal SMART: make it specific, make sure you can measure your progression, and specifically: make it realistic. Nothing is more demotivating that setting goals you will never be able to reach. In my case my goal is to participate in a body-fitness competition. Then the question remains how to complete the journey and reach the goal?

Start diggin'

This is my challenge. What is yours?

The first step is to find out what really motivates you to achieve your goals. Try to dig deep and reason solid, so that the reasons are very clear for you and you can fall back on these reasons during moments when you are less motivated. For example, if you goal is to loose weight there could be several reasons for this. The reason: 'because it is pretty', probably won't help to motivate you during hard times. Therefore you should try to find more deep motivators. For example, my reasons to participate in a fitness competition are to find out what my body is capable of and how disciplined I can work on myself. I am eager to find out the maximum results I can get with training and clean eating. My aim is to get as fit as possible in a natural way. I like to challenge myself. Find out what really motivates you. 

Motivators

Next to find internal motivation, there is so much motivation to find elsewhere. My main motivator is the mirror. I love te see changes in my body and the pay-off for all the hard work. Also, several persons around me can give me motivation to achieve my goal. Start sharing your goals with people around you and share updates about achievements helps a lot. Next to that, I personally get a lot of motivation from being in the gym and surround myself with people with similar goals. When looking around me and seeing how others are working and making process, I always try to learn and grow from them. Besides these motivators, I am always looking for new sources of information, motivation and inspiration on the Internet. I usually hit the 'follow' button for any FB sites or blogs that are interesting to follow for fitness of food related information. I try to get involved in online discussion about topics that interest me. Several of my fav's websites are FitnessRx for Women and Muscle and fitness. Also Youtube you can be overwhelmed with motivational video clips. This is one of my favourites: 

To sum up:

1. Set your goals
2. Start digging and find out your drivers of the goals
3. Find motivation inside yourself, and external motivators
4. Get it done, B*tch!

The start!

Mission:  I will work it, I will push myself to the limit, I will get it done!

Goal: Body-Fitness competition. 

I have been working out with weights since my exam period during Spring 2013. When training almost everyday with heavy weights,  and clean eating, I saw quick results. My body changed, and it happened faster than I thought. I love this feeling, I love to see the changes of my body! Over the summer I still kept improving and improving. Fairly ripped, fat percentage of less that 18% (which resulted in my case in a 6-pack) and felling very fit and energetic.

When the new trimester of my Master studies started in Fall, I found it more difficult to stick to my training schedule and to eat clean. There were a lot of socials organised where we went out for diner or drinks. It is hard to say no to such occasions. Slowly, I saw my body weakening, and turning gradually back to it's 'old' shape. This did not improve my slight Winter-depression, I usually experience during the cold and dark days. When I looked back at the pictures on my Ipad I made of my progression during that summer, I got to motivation back again to go training and eating clean. But this time, I decided to go hard! No excuses, just get it done, b*tch, I said to myself! And that is when I decided to compete in a Body-fitness competition.