Sunday, May 8th….I finished a little bit early, stopping the diet protocol pretty much Sunday morning, as it was technically my “off” day anyway, and the purpose of the whole thing was just to practice, to see how I would do mentally and physically, and to see what tools we would need to use for the real thing. It wasn’t so bad, just a few bouts of illness that threw things off in the very beginning, and a couple of moments when I was worried that my body wasn’t responding well, but all-in-all, I feel really prepared for my 3 shows in the summer. I did keep my fats pretty high all throughout the program, cooking in butter and olive oil, and I was drinking 1 – 2 cups of whole milk a day, (as cafe au lait). I will keep that in for SAF as they like a softer physique, but I’ll pull it all for the IDFA and WBFF as they like a tighter look on their fitness models. I’ll be doing the SAF Elite Challenge in Gatineau, July 16th, then the IDFA International Pro Show, July 23rd, and ending with the WBFF World’s August 27th. I am now relaxing, just doing a lot of yoga, working on some advanced postures, and just taking a break from following a program and writing down a food journal. I’m eating what I want, bringing dense carbs in a few extra times this week to bring my body back to pre-diet hormonal state, and I might hit a few exercises in the gym depending on how I feel. Jean-Jacques will be sending me my new training program on the weekend, and we’ll go over my conditioning strategy for the next 8 weeks to bring me to the stage back in Toronto.
Friday, April 29th…Another full week of following my training program and fine-tuning my diet protocol, and I’m finally starting to really see some results that I’ve never seen before. At this point, I’m 10 days off from finishing this trial dial in, and I would say that I’m better conditioned than I was for my last show of the year in 2010, the SAF fall spectacular. I’ll be posting more frequently now that I’m sliding into my last days of this dial in. I expect things to get a little more tough once I tighten up on the fats and the refeeds. For example, right now it’s almost 1:30 in the morning and I just ate two fried eggs cooked in a little bit of butter…I haven’t been really regulating my sleep, or limiting my fat too much, but I want to really play around with my fat intake continue to cut my carbs for this last week, to see if my body responds well. As a fitness model, I don’t need a lot of striations, but I do need my muscles to be defined and especially the back side needs to be tight. It’s pretty good right now, but if I could go tighter without losing the right look in the front, I’ll be a very happy camper. As it is, I already know what I want to work on over these next couple of months leading up to my two competitions at the end of the summer. That’s the whole point of this exercise. To see what is working with my training program, how I can improve things, and how best to prepare my diet for the final 8 weeks before stepping on stage.
Friday, April 21st…I think I must not have fully recovered from my original bout of intestinal illness back in February, because I seem to be prone to getting since, especially with all the training I’ve been doing. On Tuesday night I came down with a sinus infection/head cold, but I refused to give in this time, and carried on with my program, cutting out an advanced class and a beginner’s class, and getting plenty of nap time in. It’s almost out of my system now, though my morning shoulder/back workout wasn’t as dynamic as it usually it and I wasn’t able to finish my final set of kipping pull-ups. Still, my appetite is strong, a good sign that my metabolism is high, (I am eating a pretty low carb diet at this point) and I had a good Bikram class this evening. I’m going to take a video of the kipping pull-ups that I’ll complete tomorrow, (it’s my day off at the gym, but 4 sets of 12 pull-ups can be squeezed in, and I think they’re a fantastic way to work on your V-taper and improve your overall dynamic strength. On Sunday I’ll be posting more pictures, and hopefully I’ll have a clean bill of health!
Sunday, April 17th…So I’ve decided to move back the finish date of my trial dial-in to coincide with the completion of the last day of my 4th rotation through my program. I was mentally stressing myself out after having lost 5 days of training, which is pretty ridiculous as I’m doing this to tweak out my dial-in protocol, not loose my cool. We all get sick or injured, life happens! I took these shots just before starting my Metabolic Workout, which is Day 4 of the program. That means at this point I’ve done 4 leg workouts, 2 Metabolic Workouts, (well, almost!), 2 shoulder/back workouts, 2 “handstand” practicums, and 4 schedule days “off”, (I usually do a Bikram Class on these, and sometimes Advanced Class if it’s a go). I’ve been on a pretty generous diet so far, with some rotation of low-to-high calorie density carbs, and plenty of fats and proteins, and so far I haven’t been doing any cardio. I feel pretty good about finishing off this second week of my program, and can’t wait to turn up the dial on my conditioning. I want to see exactly what all that crazy hard work over the winter is going to look like once the water is all gone. I have to admit that I did slip mentally later on in the day after taking these photos. After looking at myself with too critical a gaze and insanely high expectations of progress after being sick for so many days, I lost my game face. Those terrible words, “Why am I doing this? I don’t have what it takes, I’ve lost my drive, am I getting too old?…” crept into my mind…but with the help of my trainer and a fun night out at the movies, all doubts were laid to rest. My homework for the week is to not look in the mirrors to check out my physique until next Sunday, and to stick with the program!!! Chose your support system wisely my friends. You want to surround yourself with experienced coaches and trainers who will keep you on track for optimal health, and who can counsel you quickly and easily when you need it! Paz
Tuesday, April 13th. I’ve been sick with the famous Indian gastro-intestinal illness for the last 3 days and haven’t been able to follow my training or diet protocol. To top it all off, on Friday and Saturday I went out for dinner with a visiting athlete from the IDFA, Nkechi and lost two days of 100% dialed in on my diet. Still, I think because I haven’t been able to eat much, it all evened out, and on the plus side I’ve been able to brain-storm some pretty cool ideas to make my blog more fun! 
Sunday, April 11. Sunday is the day I take photos of my physique and send them off to my coach Keri Mantie (Cathy Savage Fitness), and my trainer, Jean-Jacques Barrett, (Active Performance). I usually try to send off 5 – 6 to give them each a clear idea of what needs to be worked on and whether or not my diet needs to be changed.
Sunday, April 5th, Mumbai. Ground Zero. This is the very beginning of my 4 week “trial” dial in, in preparation for my first ever pro show with the IDFA. I am a solid 15 weeks out from the show, which will be held in Toronto, Saturday, July 23. I want to come in drier, leaner and with more overall symmetry than at my pro-qualifier event back in Montreal, Oct 9th 2010. That was the instruction given to me by the head judges at the time, and that’s why I hired a trainer knowledgeable about the IDFA judging criteria and who was skilled at conditioning physique athletes without the use of fat-burners. As a yogi and as an older athlete, my overall health is of paramount importance to me…I like to keep it clean. I’d rather do an extra session on the bike doing intervals than mess around with my hormones and adrenals popping diet pills!
October 9th, 2010, IDFA Montreal Classic. This is the moment I won my pro card. It was my 4th show of the year, (my first year competing!) and I remember I had driven my motorbike up from Boston to Montreal, in one solid day of flat out driving. I drank coffee at Dunken’ Donuts and then Tim Horton’s the whole way up, and had packed my tupperwear containers of unsalted protein and vegetables to sustain me on the drive. I ended up being bloated that day because I new nothing about controlling water intake, and had skipped my usual daily Bikram class in order to get my spray tan, so my poor body was primed to suck up any water, even from thin air, I swear…It was my rookie year, so I was bound to make a million mistakes!
July 18th, 2010, Toronto International IDFA Championships. The beginning-beginning! These are some photos dug up from my very first fitness model competition, taken last year, July 2010 in Toronto. I had just finished a gruelling 3 month externship as garde-manger at Boston’s, “No.9 Park”, working 13 hour days, 5 days a week…I remember I would drag myself out of bed in the morning to either go to the gym or the Bikram yoga studio before work started, and then crawl back into bed at 1 or 2 in the morning to start all over again. I didn’t have a lot of muscle, or much defined shape, but I did have a wonderful time, and my new passion was born!
September 2009, Tulum Okay, this is the real beginning-beginning! This was my 100% Bikram Yoga body….I started practicing Bikram when I turned 30 and have been doing it ever since…I truly believe it gives your body an incredible all-over foundation of optimal health, if you practice regularly, with integrity, and do stretching exercises before and after class to improve your flexibility. The mind-body connection that it brings you will automatically help you make better choices on exercise, diet, and managing stress! Paz
You have wonderful legs! Very strong quads and well-defined hamstrings, which you don’t see on women that often. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever seen obliques like yours! Awesome back too! Perfect glutes! In fact, I can’t see a single flaw! Wow! Hope u win your next competition. You deserve too!
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