Christmas 2006

Hello! Merry Christmas everyone! I've been flat out with organizing lunch and dinner for Christmas day at our house. Luckily we have had a couple of beautiful hampers given to us so that has made a great contribution - since my plans to make quite a few different dishes went by the wayside. It took me all day to do all my little jobs in town on Wednesday, and it was SO hot. There was a bazillion people in town, the traffic was barely moving and it was all very frustrating! I just didn't have time to make anything in the end.

My Christmas celebrations started about Tuesday this week. Out for dinner, then Wednesday to the pub, Thursday was a business dinner, Friday out for dinner with friends, Saturday night to the pub, and tonight - well, our house is full of food now so we have just been snacking on various Christmas day food. We are going to church tonight, with Damien's sister and BIL, and then home for an earlyish night and up early for a big Christmas day. Preparations will begin early! Cooking a big turkey, a roast beef, roast veggies, mum's doing a pork with crackling, we have ham, chickens and prawns for dinner. Lots of nibbly things, including some awesome brie cheese, smoked salmon, avocado, nuts, dip, biscuits of varying descriptions, fruit cake, a cheesecake, a pudding, cherries, ice cream, chocolates. Phew. I am already feeling quite blah from the rich food. It's quite amazing how it affects me - aching joints and muscles even! I trained up until Friday, and will now have a break until Wednesday when the gym opens again.

Hilary, Ali and Tracey - Merry Christmas!! Thank you Hils and Ali for the cards.

Mike - thank you! And you too have a wonderful Christmas! There is plenty of time to be dieting after the 25th :)

Selina - that's because I trash all the yukky pics!!! Merry Christmas! Thanks to you too for the lovely e card :)

Kerry - thank you for the card!! You have a nice Christmas and i hope to see you soon. Still a few issues with the forum, but I think most people can get in.

Jodi - great to hear from you! Thanks so much for the kind words, much appreciated! I'm really looking forward to comp season next year. Maybe I will get to meet you somewhere along the way :)

Michelle - yes I think Rexy should be able to manage a little loss, he's very active up and down these stairs (as I am, chasing him back down!)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas day!

My new site is finally up!

Yippee!!! But not without issues of course! Members of the Forum, please be patient, we are working on getting this up and running - that's top of the list. But it's so slow and time consuming going back and forth between Support. They tell me it's fixed, I go in and immediately find a problem - go back and report it - couple hours later I may get an answer - only to find another problem. And so on! But, overall they have been pretty good, it's just very frustrating and time consuming as I said. Fortunately it's a quiet week with programs!

Next I have to learn to 'drive' my site.

Well, this week is a whirlwind of dinners, catch ups with friends, drinks, christmas shopping and whatnot. I never miss a training session in amongst all this of course :) Tonight I had 'double cooked rabbit' - was waaaaaaayyyyyyyyy too dry. But it was lean!

I spent most of today working on getting my site working properly, and therefore tomorrow I have a million things to do. Just cardio today. Tomorrow is cardio and legs.

I have breakfast on Thursday, dinner on Thursday, dinner on Friday, dinner on Sunday and then of course food ALL day Monday. It's a rather impossible time of year!

Today's pics are of big Rexy who now has weasled his way into other parts of the house. Here he is enjoying his upstairs ledge. You should see him burn up and down the stairs at 100 miles an hour - he knows he's not allowed and he does it for attention. It's very very funny :)

Other pic is one I found from 2002. This was 2 weeks out from Nationals. Nice abs here, wasn't quite as lean this year.

Bed time!

Catch up

Josh - thanks for the congratulations on sponsorship - I think the current distributor is not the same one as when you were involved though.

Ali - hope the dieting is going well!

Pip - Thanks, and great to hear from you again, I hope all is well - are you going back to Phat Camp in 2007 for more of those nasty pop squats?

Mike - Yeah would have been 'awesome' had I actually made the lift!

Liz - Hi! Yes, quite intimidating when you look at it! I hope you too have a fab festive season!

Sam - What were you doing with your nose between my boobs - you already knew who my sponsor was...hmmm??? hehehe :) Thank you :) I doubt I look that good but I am happy not to put on any weight around this time of year!

Kirsty - great to see you, I know you post on Kerry's blog sometimes. I seriously hope it rains for you guys (and all of us!!) very soon - and lots of it.

Bec - guess what you are going to be doing next workout? :) Nah just kidding. We'll build up to it :)

Hilds - thanks! Yes MRM have a wonderful range of products and I am really excited to be associated with them!

Josh - I don't think you posted it!! ;)

So, it's definitely the silly season - lots of dinners, catching up with friends for drinks and whatnot happening. Training is awesome, had a great chest and arm session today. Tonight we went out for dinner, Greek - the usual lamb and chicken kebabs with salad, dressing on the side. Couple of chardys. Wednesday night, another dinner, but this is a business dinner. Working on strategies for the next few years. Then Friday night, organising to catch up with friends for a Christmas get together dinner. Saturday and Sunday will be spent preparing for Christmas lunch and dinner at our house. Visitors staying Sunday and Monday nights so will probably go out Sunday night as well. Have to do some shopping and cooking starting about Friday I'd say. Went for a coffee out at the plaza today and it was mayhem just trying to find a park!

All my programs are done for this week so will spend some of tomorrow scanning and resizing photos to add to my client gallery.

Tomorrow I think I will step up the cardio and do a couple sessions. That's about all that's happening at the moment!

Finally my pics posted!!! Goodness knows over how many days I tried this. Here I am about to get crushed!

Funny gym story

Good evening everyone! So, can you guess who my new sponsor is??? Hint, have a closer look at the photos. God computers SUCK sometimes!!! The photos won't post! So, the whole story just won't be the same! I will try again later. But here's the story anyway!

Today I trained legs and shoulders with Adam. I have not trained heavy and hardcore legs for about 6 weeks. So, we started with squats, and I managed 6 good reps at just over 150lb which wasn't bad. I got Adam to take some pics, since I had my new sponsor gear on. He perched on top of the other leg press, to get this pic of me pressing what I thought was 500lb. I'd just done 10 reps at 400lb so figured this was a cinch. I pressed my first rep - and this photo is of me at the bottom of the rep, and - this is as far as I got!!!! My next word I managed to squeeze out was "F@#!" as my knees ended up around my ears and had to push the plate with both hands, to try and avoid getting crushed to smitherines by what turned out to be SIX HUNDRED pounds! Took Adam just a few seconds to realise I was stuck and not getting out!! He nearly fell off his perch in his hurry to get to the machine and proceed to push with all his might to try and get the weight off me!! In the end it was really pretty funny :) He wasn't aware that 2 of the plates were 100 pounders rather than 50. They actually look the same size. So this pic is taken about 1 second before all that happened :)

I'm going to be sore, I can feel it already. Thinking I might have to have a spa tonight.

Gill - Thanks, you are too kind! Yes, I'd hate to think if I lived on junk food how I'd feel!

Michelle - Thanks Michelle, Rexy is banished to the tiled area - his furr is so bad it even blocked up our air conditioner filter causing it to break down! Not good in 40 degree heat!! Damn Rexy, he always has a plan to foil us...!

Di - hehe, such a lady, that is too funny :) You're sounding like G!

Hi Ali! - Thanks, we had a lovely dinner - one of the courses we had was bison! It was served medium rare, and also some beef, cooked the same - the bison was yummy! Quite sweet tasting. We also had sourdough bread, smoked trout with calamari and pomegranate sauce(sp??), fried zucchini flowers filled with ricotta and served with grilled cherry tomatoes, quail ravioli, and creme caramel for dessert. And a beautiful chilled 2003 Carlei Chardonnay. Followed by a cappuccino! And, then I had some chocolate for 2nd dessert. Now, I must tell you they were not large servings!!!! But, of course I was stuffed after all that. Very nice indeed.

Chantal - hello! Beachhouse is quite good, apart from not having any barbells :( That is my major gripe. I don't understand how a gym cannot have such basic pieces of equipment. Let me know if your Beachhouse has them - I am pretty sure though it's a national barbell shortage as far as Beachhouse goes.

Tracey - hi stranger! Good to hear from you. Thank you, and yes, not real practical for children - or furry brown tabbies!

Sam in Sling but not for much longer - :) Awww, thanks :)

Other news, web site is getting closer, have actually started to upload a few gallery pics in the evenings. Slow process.

Found some old pics from 2002 comp lead up that I hadn't seen for ages. I was leaner back then, have not been able to get that lean since. My abs were great. Next time! Ok, over and out, time for some spa bubbles.

My Stuff

Here's our new furniture, looking lovely and cream and clean - at this early stage! Here's me hard at work :) Actually, it was just before going out for dinner. I was really happy with this new leopard print dress I bought at Jeans West! And, it's nice not to have regrowth :)

Well, things have been well and truly hectic here! Is it ever any different? Firstly thanks to those who left me a message re the iron deficiency:

Hils, actually I had lamb rather than a steak - I looooooooove lamb, my favourite. We went Greek, so lamb/chicken combo kebabs with Tzatziki. Sensational.

Kerry - I hope so! And I hope that YOU are feeling much better and getting over your nasty virus.

Bec - I'm hoping it will make a difference, perhaps it has been holding me back somewhat! See you tomorrow, get ready to work! :)

Mike - We'll see on Wednesday about that PB! I'm looking forward to it - I think!! Great to hear from you.

Speaking of PB's, thanks for reminding me Mike! I had a chest/shoulders/biceps session with big bad Adam on Friday. I beat my previous PB's on most things, but really blitzed my lateral raises. The form was not very strict let me tell you, but, I did 35lbs db's for 6 reps, after a set of 8 with 30's and 10 with 25's. Let's say my shoulders got rather sore.

What else is going on...

*I will be releasing my new website very soon! Complete with updated information, and many new features, including something we have all been missing - the Client Gallery. As soon as the new site is up, that will be my first big project.

*My online supplement store will be opening at the same time as the new site release - stay tuned for more info about the range of supplements on offer.

*Welcome to Dianna Broeren, who joins Michelle Poe and Lisa Baggett, as an IBO staff member. You may know Dianna better as Dianna Carr - a previous client who made an amazing body transformation, and very good friend of mine. I'm delighted to have her on board!

*Unfortunately Shar Twyman will be leaving us to take on a bigger role in her current employment. Shar will still have a hand in some 'special projects' with IBO, so we'll still see her pop up from time to time! Thanks Shar, for everything, you've been wonderful to work with, our clients love you, and I look forward to watching your competition preparation unfold in 2007.

I had my complete iron levels tested late in the week, and will find out my results this week. Ferritin, bilirubin, B12, Folic Acid, haemoglobin and Red Blood Cell counts. This will give me my benchmark, will have them again in a month or 6 weeks and see how I'm faring. I must say I've been SO motivated with work and training these last few days. My mind is ticking away all the time - finding it hard to wind down at night. I spent most of this weekend working - I had a lot to do with the new web site, but I'm so excited about this because when this is up and running, I will be able to do my own updates. Yes, I will have CONTROL!!!

I took out an advertisement with Good Health and Medicine magazine, to test a 'different' market. So, spend last minute Friday night arranging that (last minute advertising space so was a bit of a rush).

When we were out at the pub the other night, I had a girl come up and ask if I was a gym instructor. She said "I had to ask, because you've got a GORGEOUS body, GORGEOUS body". Before I had a chance to respond, my hubby being the comedian he is said, "Oh thanks, well...you know...I try my best!" It was quite amusing because it went on from there, he's never one to miss an opportunity. Damien was rapt I had such a lovely compliment!

My trainer has dropped my cardio back, due to the fatigue that I was feeling. He believes when my iron levels improve I will be a different person. He's also adjusted my food intake accordingly. I am still eating 7 meals a day! With the few days rest I had earlier, I was able to have a great cardio session this morning. I did my run, and stairs workout yesterday, and today went to Beachhouse and did stair machine, 10 mins of plyometrics, and then 10 mins of running hills/sprints. Was suitably puffed at the end. Had a guy on the next tready comment that I must sleep well at night. I wish :)) Then completed my abdominals, and home for a day of work. I accomplished SO much today! I wrote an article for a US Fitness magazine, who recently contacted me about supplying their magazine with Success Stories. This is very exciting! So, I worked on that today, as well as updating my staff profile page, and have started to update our workout program templates - this will be ongoing (BIG JOB). So, I've been meaning to write in my blog for a few days now, and finally getting there!

Damien's birthday this week, so I am taking him out for a special dinner, to Stefano's Restaurant for a 6 course gourmet feast!

http://www.milduragrandhotel.com.au/dining_restaurants/stefanos.php

We love going here, not that we do it too often, it's rather exy! We go for special occasions.

My weight/body fat is stable at around 115, and just under 15%. Trainer was happy with improvements.

Right well I think I've caught up on most things. Waiting for the inlaws to drop around, it's almost 10pm so I hope they arrive soon! We are going down to Murrayville next Friday night, to pick up half a cow! Bring it home the next day and pop it into the freezer - beef for the next goodness knows how long. Not that I am allowed to eat it at the moment - iron supplement is enough trainer says.