Let’s recapture the 2006… My last year in Sweden was filled with adventures: I was on the TV show the Biggest Loser where my protege became the individual Champion with his weightloss of about 90lbs under my guidance. Instead of staying in Sweden to benefit from all this I chose to follow my dreams to move to America. That project had taken several years to come to due to the amount of money needed to start a whole new life on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

I made my pro debut in March on the fitness figure scene and kept on competing while I had no home, no car and lived off tuna and carrots from the 99 cent store. Times were tough.

My dream was to live in the mecca so I kept on searching ans searching until I found a place. Right on the beach. Expensive but worth it. I got my dream to become true.

Well, now eight months later I’m looking forward to the 2007 here in America. Every day that goes by I love this country more and more even though I see that my native country Sweden has its good things too. I don’t however want to go back, I belong here in California.

Every day I wake up to the sound of the waves I feel so happy, so alive. This is my home.

The year of 2006 has been one of the best years in my life so far but it has been the most challenging one too. It takes a lot of energy and courage to start up from the beginning in a city and a country where nobody knows you or your past.

Well, HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU OUT THERE!

yesterday I got sick. Having a hard time breathing, it’s like it’s clogged. Doesn’t hurt though.

I will take the day off from training so my body gets it message: tomorrow NOT SICK.

I remember I had the same bug/cold before here in LA. It’s so bizarre because in Sweden I was “never” sick, but here I get these new weird bugs more often.

Yesterday I did cardio in the morning (which I shouldn’t have done, but I took the chance.) but I did take it easy. It didn’t do my throat good I found out during the run, I was more occupied with blowing my noes than I was with my strides. Since it was pretty windy on the beach I enjoyed not having to push that hard since the resistance from the wind pushed my HR up fine.

Weight training in the afternoon: oh wow, very very good and productive! The dumbbells I’m afraid of were not that dangerous today and after promising to myself that NOTHING can happen to be when doing incline BB presses, if I don’t make it he barbell is unfortunately but fortunately as well depending on the way you look at it TOO LIGHT for any thing disastrous to happen.

I’m a bit annoyed by Itunes Store. They don’t update that good! It’s the same tv shows every day and now I’ve seen most of it that has some kind of value. You see, I don’t have a TV so I only watch dvds and itunes bought shows. Since I’m cheap I want more than 20 minutes to view for 2 dollars, so you know what I’ve been watching? Discovery Channel’s series of GREAT COUNTRIES. I now know a lot more about italy and Brazil… Exciting? well, I don’t know, it’s educating though…It serves the purpose of having something to watch while eating. Speaking of that, how come the TV part is SO important when eating??? I mean, entertainment AND food? Why is entertaining TV NOT as funny without food? And how come cheat meals do not seem that interesting without a TV!

So, my diet tip numero UNO is: throw out the TV! You will be less hungry.

If you’re like me you prefer to check out the products you want to purchase in real life FIRST. I just found this store in Marina Del Rey that carries ALL the goodies for you supplementaholics who love trying new things! You gotta go visit Power Nutrition Depot.

Here’s the adress: Marina Del Rey, 4023 Lincoln blvd, Marina Del Rey.

Phone is (310) 448-8908 .

If you know where World Gym is in Marina, well, the store is just a couple of steps away!

This store has four locations in the LA area and you can buy goods online too!

Christmas day was a day for relaxation. I started out however with an intense cardio workout on the beach, I also tried to jump rope, but my ponytail kept on getting in the way of the rope so it was kind of a hazzle to get into a flow. After that I had my martial art session, practicing those kicks until the cows go home. I must practice a lot on my hips, because I’m kind of not strong there yet and when I don’t get the kicks right I get exhausted. Well, well, the only thing a girl can do is to practice.

I’ve always had a big ego in the gym. Not that I throw around too heavy weights, but more like I’m so focused on getting stronger I forget to improve on technique. This leads to plateaus.

Today I was lucky to run into that Olympic weightlifting coach Danny again. We started talking and he asked me why I was wearing wraps around my shins. “To prevent bruising” I replied. And then it all started. Technique control. I’ve been more or less stuck at 245 for long time at deadlifts and even though I thought I had improved my form a lot, there was still even more to work on.

Danny told me I lacked strength in key muscles and it was very surprising when I almost couldn’t lift 50% of my PB with perfect form a la Danny. Everything I’ve been taught was suddenly not the best way, the right way and it suddenly hit me:

I’m not really a bodybuilder (to me the definition of a bodybuilder is “one who lifts weight to achieve more muscularity”) , I’m not even a real figure athlete who is occupied with the looks of the physique only. I’m an athlete without a specialty, without my very own sport. You see, as long as I can remember I have only been concerned with strength. The muscular development coming from strength is really just an extra nice side effect.

I have never trained the way “regular” weight-lifters/bodybuilders/fitness chicks train. I’ve always stuck with singles, low reps, long rest between sets and all other “big no no’s” to get lean and muscular. So many people have told me to try other more bodybuilder-oriented styles that are “scientifically” proven to yield the best muscle gains, but I have not taken them upon their offers since I don’t want to. I’m not interested.

It’s not the case I don’t believe there are better ways of training. It’s not the case I’m just thick-headed and not listening. I choose my own path just because I love my training. To me training is not the means to the end of having a great physique. No, to me the training is what counts. I love what I do every day.

Now after my training session with Danny, I suddenly understood what I need to do to reach a deadlift at 300 lbs: practice an immense amount of my deadlifting on technique. Especially in the start position. I also need to bring my strength up in my soleus (a calf muscle), my hams, my erector, my lower abs, even my lats!

You see, you cannot go after what a muscle looks like or how well developed it is. You must realize your body is only as strong as its weakest link and that’s what I need to work on. I cannot expect to get stronger and stronger if I don’t cover the basics!

It really is a journey of trial and error. Isn’t that what is greatest with a life of fitness and training?

So now I have two things to practice for 2007: kicks and punches as well as a better deadlift technique.

“stay over the bar, stand tall, weight on toes, push the bar towards your thighs, keep your knees away, stay over the bar!”

Here we go again, it’s christmas and I bet most people have put their weightloss efforts away for a while. It’s also this time when the same people eat a lot more than they should and thus gain weight pretty fast. It really is unfair, but it’s true: you do put on weight a lot faster than you lose it! It might seem unreal that you can undo your dieting and training you’ve been doing for weeks in ONE or TWO days of “all you can eat”. Yes, your fat cells are just waiting for you to sooner or later feed them again…

I would like to highlight my ePT services that you find at http://www.paulinefitness.com . With the right guidance and correspondence, everyone and I mean everyone, reaches his or her goal. I help you with a nutrition plan that fits you. How many times have you tried to follow a diet yet to find out it didn’t help you at all? It’s not there is anything wrong with you, it’s more likely you have not found the method for you.

For a lot of people merely getting oneself to the gym is hard, but do you even have an idea of what you’re supposed to do there? Don’t waste your time and effort by going around lifting some weights and hope it will target the right muscles in some way… You see, progress does not just happen, it is a planned action! You must steer your body in a direction and a really clear one. This is where I come into play. You need to know what to do, I provide it for you.

We also have the mental challenge and that is a big. How do you stay focused? How do you cope with that sweet tooth haunting you after dinner in front of the tv? How do you find out about the right way to eat sugar and candy without blowing your diet? Well, you ask me! That is what my ePT services are all about: being there for you, motivating you, encouraging you and to follow your progress.

Let 2007 be your year when you finally lose the weight you’re struggling with and get in the best shape of your life. Sign up for ePT!

picture courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org  

I buy the tilapia filets at Albertsons, you know the ones “10 by 10″. 4 oz of mercury-free white fish filet for one dollar each. So far so good. However, my microwave and the tilapia filets don’t get a long at all. It doesn’t matter if I put the micro at “sensor” and “fish”, it still explodes! So every time I need to stand watching and guarding my filets so the microwave doesn’t knock them dead and spray the whole interior with fish meat.

This is so annoying. I cannot prep the fish elsewhere due to several reasons, so I’m stuck with watching and guarding like a crazy supervisor. Every time I turn away, even for a mere second, the microwave makes the tilapia explode.

If it wasn’t for the great taste, the awesome price and the mercury-free aspect, I would say BYE BYE tilapia A**holes!!!!

Many folks have asked me if it really is me in those Optimum Nutrition ads and for American Bodybuilding. Yes, it’s me. The pictures were shot in April in Chicago. Here is a video clip (on the top of the page).

http://www.americanbodybuilding.com/v1/dietandenergy/

Yesterday I practiced round house kicks and side kicks. Gotta start practice often because it’s fun. The more you do it the more eager you become. I have a fantastic partner to work with too with lots of patience! He’s lot bigger than me though so I just HATE when I have to hold the pads for HIM. It hurts. Well, since I don’t want to be a sissy I try not to complain. Not much anyway.:-)

It’s cold in LA. Really cold.

This is the list of athletes going to the Arnold:

Sonia Adcock
Gina Aliotti
Jane Awad
Gina Gamacho
Zena Collins
Mary Elizabeth Lado
Deborah Leung
Corry Mathews
Inga Neverauskaite
Zhanna Rotar
Amanda Savell
Chastity Slone
Briana Tindell
Julie Wallis
Christine Wan
Valerie Waugaman
Latisha Wilder

Congrats to them all, but now I have to wait until MAY to compete! OH wow, how fun…:-)