6 weeks till showtime!

I cant believe how quickly time is flying by, only 6 weeks to go and if i'm honest this week I don't feel I've made any gains in shredding any additional body fat. I know I shouldn't compare but I keep looking at pictures from previous Fit Factors and I don't feel my body is nowhere near there yet!

This week I've found difficult to fit hardcore sessions in as I've been here there and everywhere, not really in my usual routine. I've been at training days for my job, day off which I spent with my mum as well as preparing to start my new job in a week's time. I have managed to fit in a couple of cardio sessions and my leg sessions but why do I feel thats not enough? 

Fuel for Leg Day...mmmm Chocolatey

Chow time...Sweet potato/ Salmon/ Vegetables

One of my highlights this week was spending time with mum and training together! She is one of the main reasons why I got into sports, exercise, healthy eating etc and generally not being able to sit down for more than 5 minutes!

So we did a bit of mother/daughter training; I showed her a few tricks and she showed me what she could do. I wish I had taken a picture; my mum didn't even think she could do 1 full body press up - and yet on Wednesday she did 2!! Now that's amazing, something I tried to keep telling her. Listening to your head when it says no, can stop you going beyond your comfort zone. The body is a powerful machine that can surprise you in the strangest way. With Miss Galaxy training I told myself I would never be able to do full chin-up and yet as it got closer to competition day I was bashing out 5-6 chin-ups in 1 go. I shocked myself and learnt that pushing boundaries is not a bad thing. 

Over the course of my training I have learnt a few things, one being don't say you can't do something unless you've tried it first. And with everything achieving what you thought was impossible, takes time and patience. A hard lesson I had to learn and am still learning. 

Hold on!! Pot calling the kettle black, I think I've just solved my own mental downer this week. I need to re-focus on my goal and don't let my head tell me I cant do it! I think I need to take my own advice! haha.. Today I am training with my BFF Dani and its legs!! I hope she's ready and then Saturday is shoulders/ back and core. 

Thank you guys for listening and reading (if you still are?!). 

Little Miss Fitness 

Xx

Stage session 101...

Oh boy it was time to crack on my shoe boxes again and dust off my stage shoes, ready for a session with Emma. One thing I do need to do is find a way to clean them; there are remnants of last years shows still round the plastic - disgusting I know. If anybody knows of a good way to clean stage shoes, message me please.

Anyway it was my first stage lesson back in a while and I was super excited to see what routine we would come up with. After a bit of stretching and a small warm up, it was time for me and Emma to create a new routine that I will performing at the next Miss Galaxy show on 9th May, at the Hawth Theatre.

Student and Teacher selfie.... 

I've been asked by the show to come on stage after all the other Galaxy girls have come on stage. I'm nervous about doing this, but on the other hand, this time I get to watch the show from the auditorium rather than from back stage, behind the curtains. 

Anyway I digress, i do have a fair bit of practise to do with my routine, so I best get cracking - only 6 weeks away now. I've forgotten how awkward and unnatural it feels to twist and arch my back into poses but as Em would say "If it hurts it works" - if it feels uncomfortable then your doing it right. 

Then, after what felt like a workout in itself, it was time to crack on with a abs/core workout. It was the first time I've worked out in studio ELB without Em showing me exercises so it was interesting to say the least.

Abs'olutely smashed....

So 6 weeks to Miss Galaxy appearance and 7 weeks from Fit Factor @ the Body Power Expo - time to get this mean machine lean. Going to hard too fast will be detrimental so I have to be careful not to over do it as i could look worse on comp day. Patience, will power and determination is the key! Hotel is now booked so everything is slowly falling into place, although I still need to buy my bikini - best get my butt into gear with that one. Yikes! 

Till next time; 

Little Miss Fitness

Xx

Rest and relaxation

So here I am at Champneys in henlow. This is the wonderful prize that Was donated at Miss Galaxy. Already the staff have made me feel so welcome and it's just so chilled. I've been given a gorgeous room that overlooks the canal and for an added bonus, I'm only a short walk to the pool, steam and sauna room. Result - will definitely be trying that out soon.

Champney's Henlow - Entrance

Time to relax and unwind.

What an amazing dinner - gorgeous. I've had crayfish cocktail to start and for main  hake fillet on a bed of nicoise vegetables & potatoes. Unfortunately I couldn't take any photos as I've been able to take my phone anywhere with me, so sorry about that. I'll say goodnight now and I'll catch up with you all tomorrow morning.

------------- Day 2 --------------

Breakfast this morning was an egg white omelette with spinach and a bowl of fruit. I'm so pleased that I can still eat clean whilst enjoying a relaxing break. It's so tempting to over indulge but not long now so got to keep the will power. After breakfast I bashed out a full body workout and some ab/core work. The gym's a little small so I had to improvise with a few things.

I was really lucky to have a session in the thalassotherapy pool; which pumps pressured water all over your body, with lots of different minerals in to rejuvenate the skin. It was lovely. So now it's onto lunch and then home to spend some quality time with Mother short. 

Time for a quick dip before lunch....

Thank you to Miss Galaxg for organising  the prize and a bug thank you to champneys henlow for having me for the night. It's been such a lovely experience and I definitely needed the rest. Thank you for donating such an amazing prize.

Next time I will have coerce my boyfriend to come with me-think he'd like it! 

Till next time;

Little Miss Fitness

8 weeks and counting....

So I've had my last blow out weekend, and I can say it was well worth it! Indian on Friday night to celebrate my boyfriends birthday (which was really good), Saturday it was my all time favourite, spaghetti bolognese for dinner.... and then Mothering Sunday was pub lunch (although I did stick to grilled chicken and vegetables - so i don't think thats too bad). 

However now it's time to knuckle down and get serious. There's only 8 weeks till Fit Factor at Body Power and I need to shift this body fat; it's not going to shift itself. So back to clean eating now and training dirty!

I'm upping high intensity cardio during the week and I'm also going to make some appearances at vivi's metabolic meltdown classes at studio ELB. Vivi's not called the terminator for nothing! Hopefully with this effort and the strict clean eating again, my body will snap back into shape, similar or better than what it was for Miss Galaxy. I feel I've made gains on my abs and shoulders over the last few months now it's time to up the anti and get the dream bubble butt! 

A few cheeky little handstands to start my workout...

there's the smile - after much concentration!!

I've also got to start practise my T walks and poses. Fit Factor isn't just judged on our figures; 50% of is based on physique and then the rest is on personality, presence and if i'm seen to be marketable. I have to admit though Im just as excited about seeing all the different fitness and nutrition brands that will be there as much as the stage competition. Its going to be a long weekend but hopefully worth it. 

Fit Factor Bikini - kind of colour I'm thinking of for my bikini... 

So here comes the pain of dieting; sorry in advance that I have to put you guys through this pain again! Although I'm learning a lot more this time around, with the help from people in the business. But I've also learnt to listen to my body and rest;, with thanks to the amazing support I've got around me, you know who you are....


So the countdown begins to May 16th & 17th... If you fancy coming along for either the Saturday (16th) or Sunday (17th May) you can book tickets here. There are going to be so many big names from the fitness industry you'd be crazy to miss it! 

Little Miss Fitness

Xx

Lights, camera, action

Wow what a day! I cant believe it, it came round so quickly. Yesterday I was getting spray tanned at The Tanning Station and now my photo-shoot is all over, finished. This was my first professional photo-shoot and I can safely say I have had an amazing time. Rebecca Andrews is a fabulous photographer and made me feel instantly at ease.  I was a little nervous the week before and in the last few days; I guess I was just hoping that my body would look good enough. But now its done, we will have to wait and see.

The night before.. all tanned up and ready to go...

I got to the studio fairly early today, just to have a nose about and get a feel for things, although I ended up spending most of the afternoon in rollers. Now thats a sight that many don't see and wont see again for some time! Emma did my hair and make up; we went for smoky eyes with make up as I feel this highlights certain areas of my face a bit more.

Sexy lady? Erm....me thinks not.

Which outfit do I pick first?

Rebecca had put together a mood board for each of us at the studio today, which was great to get a visual idea of what she was trying to do with each shot. My mood board had a mixture of fashion and fitness images on it, which is kind of what I wanted. We started off with fashion and then finished off with my fitness shots, that way i didn't get all sweaty in my tailored jacket.

Tadaaa - the finished article

I think Rebecca got some great shots for both fashion and fitness. We pushed the boundaries a little on the fashion front but I thought the opportunity may not come around again so why not go for. Emma and Rebecca made me feel relaxed about it though so it was all good. The fitness shots I have yet to see but I got to do a few bits on cable ropes, on a bench with lateral raises and some dumbbells. I have to say though it's hard trying to hold a pose with weights and make it look like your working out. Phew - it was a workout in itself!

Me and the fabulous Rebecca Andrews

Anyway it was a wonderful experience that I hope i get to do again some day. Now I can't wait to see how the rest of the shots come out. I wonder how much re-touching Rebecca will have to do?

Little Miss Fitness 

Xx

ELB & Gyms Kitchen Bootcamp

Wow what a great day at studio elb with the first gyms kitchen and elb bootcamp. A nutrition specialist from Insight nutrition was also there; they took body measurements, height, weight, bmi, body fat% and a few other bits.

There were about 14 of us and as soon as got there we went straight into a good old ELB circuit class, although this time with a twist! We paired off and did superset workouts. It was an amazing full body fat blast and we did it twice - we must be mad! Some exercises included traditional burpees, planks and farmers lunges; targeting big muscle groups but we also targeted smaller muscle groups.

After dying slowly on the floor, we had the well deserved lunch made by the amazing gyms kitchen. I chose the chicken salad, with avocado, red cabbage..oh and then for dessert chocolate and banan protein pancakes. I've been dying to try those bad boys for ages and oh my goodness they did not disappoint. So much so that there were left over and it will be my breakfast for the next few days. Naughty but nice and good for you.

Bootcamp team ready to get to work...

Whilst lunch was on, I went and got my measurements done with insight nutrition. So current stats for me

Height - 5ft 7! (I'm shorter than I thought)

Weight - 62kg

Body fat carried - 9kg 

I was also shocked  to learn my body fat %! I couldnt believe it.  

A really enjoyable day, and well worth doing on the 1st Sunday of every month. If you want more information, drop Emma an email at infoelb@studioelb.co.uk. And you get to meet loads of new people.

So now it's 1 week till my photo-shoot and I'm getting excited. This week I have to drink lots and lots of water daily so that I drain any excess out of body. So déjà vu again as I'll be waking up in the middle of night to pee, oh yep and I've got to have a spray tan the day before , although this time I wont be as dark as I am for stage competitions. I'm going to try and get a few behind the scenes shots so keep your eyes peeled.  

Little Miss Fitness

Xx

I cant keep it quiet any longer...

Wow it's the start of another week again; time just seems to be flying by; I cant keep up sometimes. Another good training session last week and on Saturday I did a killer legs/glutes workout. One thing I love about training is learning new exercises that target certain body parts. On Saturday, one of the PT's at Fitness First showed me a new exercises that target the outer part of your glutes - it felt odd to start with but trust me this one is a killer!!

Outer Leg Exercise: (12-15 reps each leg on lightweight)

• Sit sideways on a leg press machine. 
• Adjust the machine to a light weight (believe me its not about going heavy on this exercise). 
• Your top leg should be placed half way up on the foot board, the lower leg should then just dangle beside the machine.
• When your in a comfortable(ish) position, adjust the seat forward so that your knee comes to a right angle, in line with the ankle that is on the foot board. 
• Release the seat so that it slides into the lowest slot. 
• Place your hands on the side of the seat next to your shoulder. 
• From your starting position, you are going to push up, through until your top leg is straight (you should feel the outer part of your bum working when doing so.)
• Then slowly lower yourself back to the starting position and then drive up again to straighten the top leg.

As I said this exercise isn't about heavy weight; it gets your body focusing on a specific area of your glutes.

I have some very exciting news that I just cant hold it in any longer. In less than 2 weeks now I am going to be doing a photo-shoot with the fabulous Rebecca Andrews at Studio ELB; alongside some other amazing athletes who put their heart and soul into their training. Oh my goodness I can't tell you how excited I am. I haven't decided on outfits yet, so I guess I should get my butt into gear and sort some bits out. I've never done a shoot like this before, so am just training and dieting as if it was for stage. I'm starting to get nervous now; Emma will point me in the right direction, but biting my nails is not an option right now!! 

Just some Rebecca's amazing shots from Studio ELB already

Another exciting thing that happened last week, I was approached by The Athletic Colony to do an interview about winning Miss Galaxy win. I was stunned that someone was asking me to answer a couple of questions for an interview, but it was so cool. I had to try and jog my memory a bit, but it was an amazing opportunity to be asked by Oli. You can read the full interview here. There are success stories on their website from other fitness competitors, so go check it out. 

Snippet from my interview with The Athletic Colony

Countdown to Fit Factor: we are at 81 days now and now I'm trying to up my cardio to 2 sessions a week, plus all my weight training. Blasting body fat isn't easy and I'm starting to feel a little tired but I've got to power through.

Right i'm off to the land of nod my gorgeous people. Rest and recovery are key...and boy do I love my bed!

Little Miss Fitness

Xx