Squish all ingredients together with a spoon, fork, or hands. Knead together for a few minutes. Wrap dough in plastic and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes at room temp. Tear up (or cut up) pieces. There were many pieces that woudn’t stick to each other, so there were crumbly bits. I threw all of it into a pan that I had lubed up with olive oil. Fry up those pea protein babies. Season with sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, rosemary, parsley, and stevia.
They came out surprisingly yummers! Crunchy and savory! What’s not to love about something coated in olive oil? LOL. Maybe next time I’ll try to recreate but faux fry them by coating them with seasonings, then baking in the oven to reduce how much olive oil I use ;P
I am feeling fantastic! After my last figure competition- my first one ever- I decided I wanted to get a taste of a completely different organization- the NPC. I had done the INBA show and wanted to get another experience, because I knew the NPC would be a COMPLETELY different experience. And it was. And it was AMAZING.
(me with bikini bunny Danna)
I am SO glad I decided to do the show! I kept it to myself, as I felt like flying under the radar and just do my quick prep and go for it. I was intimidated by the talk of stiff competition in the NPC but didn’t want to manifest insecurity…wanted to challenge myself to gain more stage presence….to face fear…etc etc…I convinced a bikini competitor named Danna Bridges to do the show with me and we did everything together and we were true partners in crime!!
(us before hair and maekup)
(us after hair and makeup)
Everyone thought we were sisters or twins LOL!! Turns out we are alike both physically and psychologically We understand each other well. Check out HER blog chickeninmypurse.com to see her perspective of the adventure
The NPC show was run in a MUCH more organized fashion.
(we got there early, a lil bit before athlete registration)
It felt altogether more professional, and the girls in figure and bikini (I wasn’t paying attention to the guys lol) had phenomenal physiques! Truly a step up in competition. I was so stunned and ecstatic to have done so well at the show because I felt every single other figure girl had an AMAZING physique!! Wow. Oh wait- I didn’t tell you how I did?! I got first in my division You’re reading the blog of the NPC Central Valley Classic 2011 Figure A 1st Place Winner!! YAY!!
I felt SO energized and shocked and privileged to compete with the amazing women for figure overall winner. Alas, I talked to the judges afterwards and they said I was a close 2nd because I needed to tighten up the posterior a bit! REALLY?! I thought I would be nowhere near 2nd place overall, but yes! WoW! The woman who won first looked so cut, nice capped shoulders, ripped abs, all that, and had many many years of competing under her belt and has won over six 1st place wins! I couldn’t believe that my first show was 2 weeks ago and I placed right after HER! I was not mad at all!!
I feel awesome after winning FIRST in my division AND second OVERALL at BOTH of my first two figure competitions, but want to come into the competitions confident in winning overall if I compete again. This means I want to work on my shoulder caps, my lat width, my outer quad sweep, and tightening up my glutes and hamstrings. GLUTES GLUTES GLUTES!
Saturday after pre judging, Danna and I began our nutritional debauchery.
(Danna showing off some of the goods)
It lasted through Sunday night. It was complete gluttony, and damn did it feel good. Made us bloat like we’re preggers but damn it felt good Now it’s Monday, and back to cleaner eating. Not contest-prep-strict, but not straight junk food. And today I lifted heavy. Low reps. It felt great. My muscles were full of candy glycogen and I felt great!
On Aug 6th, 2011 (8 days ago), I competed in my first ever figure competition. It was the INBA California Natural Bodybuilding Championships. One of the ONLY all-natural organizations in bodybuilding. I had been wanting to do a figure competitions for years, and decided to embrace the challenge. I began a 12 week prep and it was amazing to prove to myself what I was able to accomplish, the discipline I was able to achieve, and everything I learned about figure training, nutrition, and all the girlie stuff like walking in 5 inch heels!
(me and another figure competitor)
Friday afternoon my friend Jenny and I drove up to Windsor to commence tanning. I want to give her a HUGE shout out (and her new blog! http://jenniferbenda.blogspot.com/) because she was a huge support for me, coming up there and keeping me company, staining her hands along my naked body to apply the tanning lotion, becoming utterly stir crazy and exhausted as she was waiting for me allll daaaaayyyy saturday as the show ended wayyy past schedule- in other words, going beyond the call of duty! Friday we started tanning and it was looking umm not so hot so it was relieving when Akane, experienced competitor de jour, came and cleaned it up! We relaxed and…I couldn’t sleep, though a certain tranquility set in and I was able to think beyond the competition tomorrow and felt I would perhaps like to compete in another one…
(me and a bikini competitor)
Before ya know it, it was morning time and that meant hair and makeup. Wassup! Chica totally made me look good (yessah! good thing, cuz I do NOT know how to do hair and makeup- especially for stage!). We got to the venue for orientation, registration, and urine testing. Then, it was time to get ready for pre judging! Everyone was glazing up, pumping up, walking around all orange, scantily clad. Pretty funny.
(pumpin up! GRRRRRR beasssttt. okay i’m smiling but stilllllll imma BEAST!)
I was dying-nervous in my heels! It was SO hard for me to walk in those things! As I did the T-walk on stage, I was nerve-racked and as I filed into diagonal line, I was shaking like a leaf. Scary! I did my best to portray a confident composure, though.
(me in mah 1 piece)
(me in mah 2 piece)
I competed in 4 divisions: 1 piece novice, 1 piece open, 2 piece novice, 2 piece open.
After pre judging, there was a lonnggg break of a few hours before the night time show, which is when decisions are cemented and awards are bestowed. Peeps were texting me in the afternoon how did you do how did you do?!?! I was like I reserve judgment until I hear the results!!
As the show ran late, it was forever until my participation in the night time show. I wanted to get it over with
:::Drum rolll::::
RESULTS:
1 piece novice: 1st place
1 piece open: 1st place
2 piece novice: 1st place
2 piece open: 2nd place
Not too shabby for my first competition!
(2 buff crew in tha heezy!)
By the end, I felt really bad for Jenny because she wanted to get the eff home (another 1-2 hour drive back), so we bounced pretty fast. Sadly, I forgot to get the judges feedback before leaving.
We came home, I showered off a coat of tan, and the next day I was back at work training clients!
It’s felt a little unreal, partly perhaps because this week has gone by SO FAST. I wanted to document everything right away and write a blog post ASAP but I have been on the go, go, go! I’ve been training clients around the Bay, so my commute time has increased tremendously, so I think that has been where my time has been guzzled…
I LOVE Emily Stirling. She is one of the few figure competitors who doesn’t stick with only old-school bodybuilding methods. Her style is often times functional, athletic, high energy, and plyometric. Interesting! Here is an example of a core workout she did that definitely does not fit into the conventional figure competitor core workout! Although it does still focus on the “abs” unlike “true” functional training for the core which may be TRX atomic push ups, beach uphill crawling, multi-planar lunges with twist, and so forth. It’s stimulating my brain cells…hmm…you can‘t say it doesn’t work, her abs are BANGIN! :::drooolll::: B_A_N_G_I_N_G. What do you guys think of the video?
I have been doing a lot of thinking about post competition and reading different things about it. It’s a really big deal. Competitors change their whole life focus for contest prep and take on this new form of dieting and training and LIVING, for this short moment onstage, then once it’s over and it’s traumatic and anti-climactic because it’s like…now what? It’s all over and life is back to “normal”…and what does “normal” mean anymore? How am I supposed to eat? train? What am I supposed to look like? Many competitors binge like crazy and end up gaining 5-20 pounds in a week or two!
I’ve known that I needed a plan, but didn’t know what I wanted it to be. One part of me wants to be the devil and say eff all this, and not even consider any cardio and blah blah EFF IT! One part of me wants to eat the world, especialllyyy the delicious and highly delectable, heart attack treats oh yes oh yes. On the OTHER hand whispers to me the angel. The sculpted athlete. That cautions against feeling and looking like crap, in such little time after getting the most smokin body ever! Took me months to get here, but um I don’t think it would be that hard to gain a lot of weight quick!
As I draw closer to Saturday and my workouts have been reduced and my energy is being restored, I feel my mood lifting and my post competition plan crystallizing. It’s not all the way set, but this is my general plan: Stay eating clean. I ABHORE CARDIO. Really. I REALLY don’t want to do it. Maybe a tiny bit. But to be able to do minimal cardio, I have to eat clean. I plan on consuming MORE carbs, and MORE calories, but sticking to clean eating sources! I will probably still buy and cook in bulk (a lot of chicken breast), and may even still bust out my food scale for protein portions. I will eat more complex carbs surrounding resistance training (perhaps carb cycling, with higher carbs around leg training), and will consider incorporating simple carbs as well in the post workout window. I am thinking about adding creatine to supplement pre workout to promote anabolism. I want to experiment with my crazy protein and veggie recipes again I am thinking of continuing with a multi daily, fish oil daily, and L-carnitine pre cardio. I think I want to get back into MMA. Maybe other cross training. I want to build up my LEGS and get some shredded-azz LEGS!!! QUADS, HAMS, GLUTES! I always love new challenges. I wanna look at these babies and see some ripped-ness! Heavy leg resistance training twice a week…hitting other body parts (minus chest, I RARELY hit chest) once a week, except abs maybe 2X a week. Cardio if I feel like it? Maybe once, maybe twice? Maybe none. <Delivish Look> Maybe I’ll count MMA/no gi/muay thai/wrestling if I take those as a cardio….Really want to use the alleged heightened anabolism of the post contest period to gain serious muscle, especially in the legs…by doing my (4 day?) split hard and really dialing into pre and post workout nutrition….Then once I get a little breather in my system then I’ll consider another show But anyway that’s what I’m thinking for now as far as post comp plan…I am sure it will become clearer day by day until it will just manifest…Just have to keep my mind right!
Here are some articles/blog entries related to post competition. A common theme overall is to BE PREPARED as well as to GRADUALLY introduce elements of the pre-contest lifestyle back in OVER TIME. Don’t just jump back into eating tons of carbs n candy and stop exercising or you’ll be VERY, VERY SORRY. Check out Berardi’s article, in particular.
So peeps, just a quick update on what’s up. My first ever figure competition is THIS SATURDAY!!!!!!! AGHHH!!! The hardest part will still be the walking in heels (so far, that’s how it appears). My workouts have gotten less and less intense, and shorter and shorter– yet because I remain steadfast in my clean eating, I CONTINUE to drop body fat. It’s amazing! I weighed in at 122.4 pounds today. What the heck?! Craziness. That is LOW for me. Very low. Very awesome! Funny to say “yayyy!! Hitting record LOWS!”~~
So this week I am just doing some light depletion workouts and a little bit of light cardio. The increased rest is increasing my energy levels and brightening my mood. Contest prep is going well except I should have started walking/posing a long time ago, and I realize that I should NOT have cut sodium from my diet months ago. Sodium manipulation is a key variable in figure competition peak day form, and I involuntarily eliminated that from my bag of tricks. Oops! If and when I do another figure comp, I will be sure to salt my food the whole time, so when it’s right before contest, I can pull the salt and get a majorly increased shredded look.
Tomorrow is my last planned workout before the show, and Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I am slated for no workouts!! WOO HOO!! Already did my grad school work this week, so just have working with clients, getting my head straight, getting mah hair did and mah nails done and mah eyebrows threaded and applying Jan-Tana, prepping my food, driving up to Santa Rosa the night before, all that jazz.
I’m two weeks out, and was sooo curious what my body fat is.
I hate calipers and most other forms of body fat testing, because they are highly inaccurate. Luckily, I had heard of a mobile hydrostatic testing service called “Fitness Wave Norcal.” I was able to book an appointment with them for after my clients- yes! Serendipity For those of you who aren’t familiar with hydrostatic body fat testing, it is regarded as the golden standard for body fat testing. It requires you to be submerged underwater and from their assessments it produces a whole spreadsheet of interesting information
The technician explained to me my results: First off, my body fat is currently at 7.49! He says he would have expected me to have about ten pounds LESS of lean muscle, so that means all my years of strength training have paid off! I have a LOT of muscle, baby! I’m a tank!! He also said I have very small bones, which I was shocked to hear! Everyone has told me I’m big boned cuz I’ve been so thick and strong, but seems this gal has the frame of someone SMALL and strong!!!! The technician has worked with a lot of figure competitors, and we chatted about body composition and the different numbers and where can expect them to shift pre and post contest, and it was very elucidating!
I also felt very proud to secure the numbers I did and see how low my body fat was, and how HIGH my muscle mass is– after such hard work to lower the former and build my muscle over time as well as preserve it in this contest prep. My work has paid off! It feels AMAZING. It feels great to try on clothes in “XS” and lots of people are coming up to me in the gym and on the streets, asking me if I compete, asking me what I do, asking if I will give them info on my training (!), telling me I should be in magazines, etc, etc..
On the other hand, three of my friends have asked me to GAIN weight and it really irritated me that they do not support my leanness. I would rather they address what I perceive to be their true concern- my lack of energy…I DO agree that post competition I do not want to continue to be a lethargic, single-minded, anti-social slug (lol). I DO not agree that I need to gain a bunch of weight to be healthy! I AM healthy, I LOOK healthy, I am love looking ripped and want to look MORE ripped– I think that post competition I can maintain leanness, and just need to adjust my training and nutrition style to my own design- more of a lifestyle design than following someone else’s pre-contest program. With training, ultimately, I am thinking of tossing most steady state cardio for short, high intensity interval sessions, and following a nutrition style similar to Fighter Diet by Pauline Nordine. Despite contemplation, the post competition routine remains a big question mark. How will I feel? What will I feel inclined to continue? To change? VERY, very important questions, indeed, that influence the psychological and physical health of competitors, but questions that I feel I can’t answer yet. It will all soon be revealed!
So, I’m on my way. Still tired. Still truckin through. Tryna strap these heels on and get a better stride down. I asked my coach how I can win first, and she said it just depends on who shows up! It’s true, there may be seasoned veterans who show up with bangin, well-sculpted and refined physiques, with experience and poise and all….but all I can do is do my best. *cheezy grins* And give a lil SASS! Right??? I’ll try!!
In the meantime, here’s some eye candy/my latest inspiration, Vanessa Tib
Hello my loves! I am having a brief moment of energy and positivity so figured I’d take advantage of that to shoot out a blog post. Wow, there is SO MUCH I have neglected to keep you posted on! Bad blogger, BAD!
Thoughts run through my head of what I SHOULD have been sharing with you…my new-found love (and I mean obsessive delicious miraculous healthy mouthgasm) of macademia nut oil…any of my various weight training routines…any small regime changes I may have manipulated in these past few weeks…the arrival of my suits…so on..and so forth…
BUT I am sorry, I’ll only go with the present time and just tell you that I have, in general, hit a wall in terms of exhaustion. The first, say, 9 weeks were a breeze! I was perplexed by the stories of competitors feeling depleted, exhausted, miserable, bitchy, etc etc etc…I felt excited, happy, and full of energy! It was about a week or so ago, though, that I started to feel…mentally tortured with cardio. I’m serious. Tortured. Started to feel mentally and physically exhausted, despite trying to rest as much as possible. Feeling cranky and grumpy and irritated. Just want to lie down. Do not want to move. Do NOT want to do second cardio. Struggling. So it’s been hard recently.
I’m still absolutely consistent in my diet and have not missed ONE workout in my figure prep ever since I started, so perhaps that’s why my body is still responding. It’s not that I’m frustrated with a plateau in my body weight of anything (thank goodness), it’s just a deep mental and/or physical exhaustion. Hard to know which one it is- maybe both.
Yesterday after my clients I RESTED as in VEGGED as much as I could, lying on the COUCH, messing around on the internet, reading a book, and so forth- VEG. Despite that, I am still tired today, super tirredd in general just want to go home and VEG but alas have more clients and grad school etc etc…But I keep pushing. My show is in two weeks and 5 days, and I have made tremendous changes in my physique during my prep, as well as done things I’ve never thought possible, and am so grateful for this incredible journey, and know this is the last little push, and I have come too far to turn back… I am working on changing my mind set to embrace this challenge and remember that no one is forcing me to do this competition and if I’m not having fun then what’s the point?
I wrote an email to peeps today inviting them to my show and thought I’d share
LOVE YOU!! <3
Dear family and friends,
You may or may not have known that in the past two plus months I have undergone a personal challenge to compete in my first figure competition. In 2 weeks and 5 days- on Saturday, August 6th- I will compete in the INBA Natural Bodybuilding Championships in Windsor, CA. The link is here: http://www.naturalbodybuilding.com/pages/pages/contest_schedule.php
There is the early show at noon and there is a night show at 6 PM. The only info I know is the info you see on the jenky website.
I know Windsor is a bit far for many of you, so I won’t hold it against you if you don’t come!! I also must share that it is pretty darn boring to see peeps just walking on stage, posing, so on and so forth…yawn yawn yawn. With that as a disclaimer, if you want to see me get my white butt-turned-orange-brown-ridiculous-with fake tanner up on stage wearing practically nothing and facing my biggest horror of having to attempt to walk in 5 inch clear heels AND not be completely weebly-woobly-falling-oopsies while simultaneously attempting complete, devastating allurement, then please come by and support and scream my name! I have been working HARD and I mean ***HARD*** in this figure competition preparation which is essentially bodybuilding. I’m gonna bring my best package and have some fun! If you come at night, then we might hang out afterwards and grab a bite to eat at (gasp) a restaurant…something I haven’t done in a looong time. I would love to see all your beautiful faces! Let me know, my loves!
Wow, I can’t believe the competition is coming so fast! It seems like it has totally taken over my life- seems like I don’t have time for anything anymore! I am enjoying the process, but dang! Still skeptical I can achieve the desired physique in such a short amount of time, but my coach reassures me I’m fine, so I persist.
Notables of today: did my workout, kicked my own butt, WOO! …I did NOT go to jiu jitsu, which is very sad, because I decided to take a break from it in these last 5+ weeks pre contest, as I think my body is kind of rebelling with my knee hurting because so much training is producing excess cortisol throughout my system, spreading inflammation. So I have to rest when I can, which is not often. SO, no “extra” sports at the moment.
I- what do you know- spent this afternoon grocery shopping, preparing, cooking, cleaning, measuring, etc…And it’s so late! That’s what I’m saying! Where did the time go! At least tonight I made some fun stuff
First up:
Asparagus Mixture Cabbage Rolls
Here is what I did: Steam a full head of cabbage in water for like 10 minutes til you can pull off the large leaves. Make a mixture of a ton of dried minced onion, fresh minced garlic, steamed chopped asparagus, low sodium soy sauce, the magical miracle rice
which I MUST tell you about in another blog post, egg whites, Torani sugar free peanut butter syrup, cilantro, thyme, and the star of the show: organic basil leaves.
I mixed all but the basil leaves with my hands
scooped it into the cabbage shells, topped with fresh basil leaves, and rolled them up. Then I topped them with a bit more of the mix (minus the asparagus and miracle rice). I baked it in the oven for about 20 min at about 350. When they came out, they were yummy! The basil was a DEFINITE highlight- don’t skimp! I of course am eating everything with Trader Joe’s garlic mustard, so I had my cabbage rolls with mustard.
Secondly I made (and consumed)
Faux Fried Chicken
Here is what I did:
Make a dry mixture of Quaker oatmeal, FiberSmart
chili powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, Mrs. Dash extra spicy, cumin, curry powder. Dip boneless skinless chicken strips into a bowl of egg whites, then dip into the dry mixture.
Cook the chicken strips at around 425 for 25 min. Yummers! Of course I dipped these faux fried- HEALTHIFIED- chicken tenders in their sauce. Trader Joe’s garlic mustard that is!! Bwahah. Don’t leave your mustard ’round me, true playa for real!
And now I have a lot of work I am backed up on. Gotta get to it!
I am a certified personal trainer, avid fitness enthusiast, and creator of Freestyle Fitness Addiction. Come visit frequently, as I add articles, video clips, and personal blog posts related to building strength, power, and stability in fun, outside-of-the-box ways; nutrition; inspiration; injury prevention and rehab; figure and fitness; mixed martial arts; random ruminations, and daily personal life. When not driven by my fitness addiction, some of my favorite things include being a badass with my hoodie up, sparkles, and kittens.
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(me with bikini bunny Danna)
(us before hair and maekup)
(us after hair and makeup)
We understand each other well. Check out HER blog 
(we got there early, a lil bit before athlete registration)
You’re reading the blog of the NPC Central Valley Classic 2011 Figure A 1st Place Winner!! YAY!!
(Danna showing off some of the goods)
Now it’s Monday, and back to cleaner eating. Not contest-prep-strict, but not straight junk food. And today I lifted heavy. Low reps. It felt great. My muscles were full of 
(me and another figure competitor)
(me and a bikini competitor)
(me in mah 1 piece)
(2 buff crew in tha heezy!)
