Back from the Tournament of Pro figure in anaheim, california.

About my conditioning: I tried to lean out another lb for the show since the Europa and I did one week out. However, during the week of no cardio when you just let your body rest into contest shape I gained it back. I didn’t eat more so I guess I just depleted myself with the extra cardio and fewer calories. On the very contest morning I weighed EXACTLY the same as at the europa but a tiny bit leaner. I dropped another quarter inch in my waist and one quarter inch on my arms. Otherwise no change.

I am content with my placing, but I’m also a little bit disappointed ofcourse! Everyone wants to break into the top and so do I…

My contest placings this year has been:

#10 at the san francisco show

#9 at the pittsburgh show

#8 at the california pro show

#7 at the europa super show

and now, you take a guess….

#6 at the Tournament of champions

You see a pattern?….If so, three more shows before breaking in to the top 3? Who knows….

Anyway, now I’m focusing on work instead of competing so I can earn some cash instead of just spending it on competing!

I have many projects coming up, wait and see…:-)

About my training: will keep on doing what I’m doing but next time I will go down that lb in real weight. And I will discontinue working my beloved triceps. It’s hard to chew down, but figure is not about an athletic phsyique or a functional one: it’s about a certain look…I believe I will be closer to what the judges like “right now” by manipulating my lines and shape. Big arms is a thing of the past…

I want to thank Jon Lindsey for a GREAT event. Looking forward to your next show in sacramento 2/24 2007.

Big Thank you to Jan Tana too! You are tanning artists!

Extra thank you to my makeup artist rachel. If you need an extraordinary pro to make you beautiful, let me know and I’ll make her contact you.

And Thanks to my suit sponsor crystal for the suits!

Also, big thank you to the people who work with me: I know I can be a tough cookie.:-)

Some reflections on the past couple of days.

SUNDAY I had my last cardio sessions and worked legs. I’ve been having problem with my hamstrings/glutes for such a long time but I just kept on doing my favourite exercise even though it hurt so much. I had a pro trainer check my form in there was nothing wrong, but I gues 7 1/2 years of heavy deadlifting was just a little little little tiny too much and my hardcore philosophy told me to keep on and not listen to those stupid sissy muscles of mine. I so badly wanted to “teach my body to follow my mind” but guess what, ocfourse it didn’t work out! Who did I try to fool? I mean, I do everything there is to it in terms of self-healing, massage, trigger point therapy, ART, chiropractic work, core training, rehab training etc, but the thing is I DO demand quite a lot from my body and all that sprinting, fast running, heavy squats, deadlifts for both back and legs just didn’t make me heal.

So, I suddenly got reasonable and made just a few changes which are pretty BIG when you’re a thickheaded compulsive trainer like myself.:-)

I did partial deads for back and that was fun because I had no problem doing almost 50% more poundage on the bar when my hamstrings weren’t crying for mercy. I also changed my extreme stiff’legged deads for romanian ones instead and suddenly no pain but just pumped up hamstring bellies.

I also quit trying to stretch my hamstrings too much and focused on my hip flexors a lot instead.

Now, my body feels like it gets the idea about what I’m trying to do. I hope that will be next week.:-)

MONDAY

This was one bad day for me. I woke up in a bad mood even though my weight dropped over night to the better. I went to the gym with a look on my face of being the most miserable unhappy and bitter muscle girl on earth. Why? well, I had to skimp on my breakfast in order to be able to have my sugar before and after my training. I was so scared I wouldn’t be able to lift the 50’s for my shoulder training that I usually lift. I know it wouldn’t mean “muscles are shrinking” but for me decrease in strength no matter what is BAD BAD BAD. I just ask from myself to perform 100% in the gym no matter what the circumstances are. I know the mind is stronger than the body and if I can only lift and press those dumbbells as good as I did the last time, I’m at peace of mind…

Well, now I put ALL my focus into getting those darn dumbbells up, I’m sure it took me atleast ten seconds before I finally pressed them to the top, but I did it. dizzy, squinting eyes and low blood sugar, but I did it. Great, now I could go home with a smile on my face.:-)

After those first couple of sets I suddenly felt overhuman and I was as strong and confident as always.

At home I had another struggle: I was hungry. Not hungry in my stomach, but mouth hungry. I bought too many chewing gums and sugarfree jell’o that i couldn’t sleep all night due to cramping. Well, it was worth it.

TUESDAY

ok, the morning was not a good start. 4 lbs heavier and smooth. My last meal the monday night was a big big bowl with my special diet porridge: 6 cups of wheat bran, 1 cup of flax seed and lots of sweetener and cinnamon. zero calories, mega water retention (intestines attracts excess water when having that much fiber). Add that too loads of jell’o, sodium and all the sugar alcohols from the trident and orbits and extra chewing gum and you’re destined for weight gain over night. I know it doesn’t matter, but any drastic change in the phsyique from day to day the last weeks before a show is hard to handle. thank lord I’m used to all this and have been taking notes about my body, clients’ bodies etc for future references.

Ok, then workout. Same wonderful “not want to” mentality but I had a great workout despite no energy. strong as always! great!

I planned my meals better and loaded up on veggies early to satisfy my hunger.

i also practiced some sodium loading and wow ain’t it cool watching how one’s body transforms from smooth and depleted to full, vascular and ripped in 30 minutes!

Ok, enough for now. Tomorrow is last day of training but I already am looking forward to my leg workout on synday!

Now I’m six days before my fifth show this very first year as a fitness figure pro. All cardio is done, three more workouts in the gym and then that’s it. I’m looking forward to seeing improvements and to look at photos afterwards and draw a plan for the future shows later on.

it will be too hectic weeks now. First a show, then photo shoots, regular journalistic work, clients and then head off to Las vegas.

Now time to eat sugarfree jell-o.

Today turned out to be one special day. In the middle of my morning cardio session down the beach, my boyfriend since 5 years back went down on his knees and proposed to me! And ofcourse I said yes! It was very romantic. Our dream and goal was to move to Los Angeles and many dark winterdays in Sweden we talked about let our minds fly to the beaches of california. Now we are here, doing all that we wanted to do, so saying yes to the Man of my Life on the beach in the country of our dreams was just so right and destined.

Otherwise training, prep is right on.

When I train with new clients they feel anxious about my a little unconventional training methods. It’s not what “everyone else is doing”.

So, here is my take on that:

I know you might be worrying about your training. You know the “is this the right way to the goal?” etc. It’s natural when you just start with a new way of training.

I know you get many questions about your new training and I KNOW that people don’t train this way at all. You just have to convince yourself that this is the way to do it. Just try for some months and you will never go back to what you did in the past…:-)

I’ve been through this many times before. Clients who feel anxious about my unconventional training style and people who approach me and ask why I work out this way being a fitness figure athlete.

Well, it goes back to this:
1. as a woman you must lift heavy, really heavy to build as much muscle as you can if you train natural.
2. Since you are not going to bulk up again and more or less be following a very strict diet and stay lean from now on, you must do whatever you have in your power to make sure you keep the muscle from diminish.
3. The only accurate way to see if you progress is by keeping track on your strength. If you can lift a certain poundage today but couldn’t 3 weeks ago, then you are on the right way. How would you be able to do it otherwise? You are not a beginner just using more and more recruiting muscle cells to lift the weight….
4. If you don’t try to build a lot of muscle you will break down more than you should when going on a strict depriving diet. You must add an extra amount of muscle so you can afford to lose some with the cardio and diet.

counting down the days to my next show. It’s in Anaihem California. More info on http://www.musclecontest.com

Right now I’m figuring out what to do to take my physique one notch up. More cardio, less cardio, less food, more of something, less of that more of this.. It’s not “just do it” since everything I do affect what I will look like on stage.

I know my physique looks better the leaner I am, but I’m not one of those girls who get lean very easily. The reason is I don’t compromise with my muscle-building. I just don’t want to do cardio after my gym workout. I know that this is not perfect for recovery. And I have a hard time going back for a third workout at night…So that means I might do too little!

I have a lot of bulk on my arms and since I just refuse to quit training triceps my shoulders don’t appear as broad as they could with less volume on my arms!

I’d love to take my waist down one more inch. It would look so good. Maybe I should just dig very deep inside and do what it take? it’s just this show now and it might be the last one for about 5 months if I don’t do the one in sacramento… And the chance of going to Olympia is pretty pretty slim.:-)

I receive a lot of emails about my diet. I thought it might be a good idea to write about it here once and for all.

Let’s start out with the fact I don’t follow an exact diet that consists of the same foods, the same amounts/calories every day.

I don’t ‘diet’ for shows or photo shoots, I prepare and adjust my regular daily diet. I eat the same stuff yearround. The biggest difference is I eat more calories when I don’t need to shed a pound or two. I also have more frequent carb days when I’m far out from an event where I need to be very lean.

I have 8-12 meals a day. Every day. I count shakes as meals. Anything I chew except for chewing gum is considered a meal.

I would never forget my supplements. I take in lots of them every day: whey protein, caseine, egg protein powder, BCAA powder, glutamine, NAC, alpha lipoic acid, multimineral/vitamins, extra calcium, fish oil, primrose oil, MSM, glucosamine complex, tyrosine, caffeine, green tea etc etc.

I rarely indulge in cheat days when you go for all you can eat for the whole day. It happens about three times a year. Top. Last time I had a pizza was in July last year. Not that I don’t like crap and junk food: I love it. But I don’t like the consequences so I better not go down that road.

I believe in nutrient timing. I include macronutrients when I need them and in accurate servings so I get the muscle-building benefits without fat gain. I don’t believe you need to gain a lot of weight to put on muscle.

The reason I don’t have rice or pasta or similar for lunch and dinner is because I only eat those kinds of foods around my workouts. That way I have energy for my training and no energy when I’m not training. This is for me the perfect way to burn fat and build muscle.

I believe you get a better muscle growth response by eating less at times and more at other occasions. My meals during the day are set far apart so I can have more meals right before a workout and in the hours following my training.

I eat tons of carrots. About 1 pound a day. Add 4 more lbs of veggies and you have my daily serving of vegetables. I’m the gourmet chef’s worst nightmare: I put all my vegetables in a big bowl in the microwave for 35 minutes. With some tilapia it’s a delicious meal!

My kitchen carries the same foods all the time. You find this in the freezer, fridge and the cupboards:

tilapia, frozen cauliflower, green beans, chicken breasts, beef, sugarfree jell-o, cottage cheese, eggs, liquid eggwhites, beef jerky, wheat bran, oats, pistachio nuts, smoked salmon, canned salmon, salmon filets, mahi filet, tuna, cole slaw, bbq spices without sugar, flax seeds, caramel rice cakes, white instant rice, shrimp, carrots, quark, cinnamon, garlic and green peas.

ok, there you have some info!

Ok, soon time to walk onstage again. It’s gonna be nice to do a show in CALI since I don’t need to fly out of town.:-)

Do I need to say my body is holding A LOT of water AGAIN? This time it’s not scaring me, I know it doesn’t matter at the time being. So, I walk around like a swollen water baloon. lol

All training is going good except for my hams still killing me. they cramp when i deadlift. I’ve had this haunting me for years and today I just had enough of that crap. I’ve been rehab-training for weeks without results. I’m so frustrated. I have researched and consulted so many experts but I cannot get to the root of the problem.

I had a olympic weightlifting expert checking my form and it was alright. I don’t have any pain in my lower back but just in those stupid hams… Well, it’s always something, right?

Right now I’m awaiting a sudden desire to head to the gym for another cardio session….Won’t happen, so I better just go. Enough thinking, just DO. Bye bye.

found our car vandalized this morning. Broken glass, key locks broken, tv stolen. I don’t mind the TV, I don’t believe in watching TV when driving.;-)

My right foot is bad. Guess I strained it the other day. It’s always the same ankle and I actually don’t know what I do when I run that irritates it that much. I mean, if I step awkwardly, why don’t I get the same problem with the other ankle at times…

I didn’t feel for working legs yesterday either. Some days are just that: work-out. with the “work” part feeling way too much like work.

Anyway, during my workout I realized I had some new areas to concentrate on. I like when I get new stuff to work on, new weaknesses, it keeps it interesting.

Tomorrow I hope my ankle is better because I’m doing a sprint session in the morning.

Looking forward to the next show in Anaheim september 23rd. will do my best to try to  place well….

today I had one of my best cardio workouts of the year. I headed to the stadium and just ran, ran and ran. I love the runner’s high.