Motivation Pic

One of my favourite bods-Rosa Romero

Have a fantastic weekend!

Quote for the weekend...

“Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.”
—Kahlil Gibran
(1883-1931); Artist, Poet, And Writer

Stop Thinking of Health and Fitness as Punishment

Good morning! How is everyone going? January is just about over with now...are you still on track with your health and fitness plan? Have you made healthy changes part of your lifestyle or are you still thinking that you don't really want to "go without" certain foods or "work so hard" at being healthy?

I think for many people they view health and fitness as punishment for bad choices they've made in the past. This type of thinking is negative and unhelpful! Until you get out of this type of mind set, you will continue to "rebel" and binge and miss workouts-because you are thinking of it in the wrong way.

If you change your way of thinking to positive thoughts such as "I'm benefiting from the workouts & I'm nourishing my body with healthy food" it can make a huge difference! Rather than thinking of what you are supposedly "missing out" on, think of how you are protecting yourself against unwanted diseases and ailments that are usually brought on by the poor lifestyle choices.

True, you may get hit by a car next week-there are plenty of unforeseeable tragedies that we have no way of knowing about or avoiding; but why not do something about the avoidable-heart disease, diabetes, certain types of cancer, stroke? Yes, people can get some of these without being obese or unfit-but as the statistics show, obesity puts a person at a much higher risk for all of those listed, and more.

So, stop thinking of fitness as punishment and start thinking in terms of benefit; positive thoughts can do so much more for your outlook and your health!

Cheers and Ciao for now!

Whew...what a leg workout!

Well-John did me in today....I was quite fried at the end of today's sesh...thankfully I had a half hour before my client was due-I needed every minute of it..LOL
Here is what we did...I did a walk/jog with the dog this morning-that was my warm up.

Dumbbell squats super set leg extensions
Set 1-2x 5K dbs x15 & 20Kx15
Set 2-2x 7.5K dbs x 12 & 20k x 12
Set 3- 2x 10k dbs x 12 & 20 x 12
Set 4- same as set 3
leg extensions were holding for a count of 3 at the top for 8 reps then 4 fast ones.

Lying leg curls super set straight leg db dead lifts
4 sets 12.5k x 12 on curls
And 2x 7.5k dbs x 12

Donkey calf raises
4 sets of 25 with John sitting on my back (92K)

2 rounds of tabata thrusters-squat w/shoulder press out the top (4 minutes each round…20 seconds on 10 seconds rest) w/5K dumbbells 2 minute rest between the 4 minute rounds. These killed-awesome!

Abs
2 sets
vertical knee raises-straight legs x 10
crab crunches-legs in air shooting feet to ceiling x 24
bicycles x 20

I'm feeling it-and I know my calves are going to burn tomorrow-I rarely train them-so that hit them hard.
Enjoy your weekend!
Computer free Sunday tomorrow!

Must Be Doing Something Right!

Today I thought I'd do something a little different and highlight a man for a change! This is Clarence Bass...(Clarence Bass: age-60)
a long-time Muscle & Fitness columnist, lawyer & bodybuilding champion. He's the author of nine books, & believes in combining weights, aerobics and sound nutrition to achieve total fitness and permanent fat loss. Looking this fit at the age of 70, (Clarence Bass: age 70)
I think he probably lives by what he preaches! He's obviously doing something right.

Now, I know many out there say "well, I don't want to be a bodybuilder!"...and nobody says you have to be a "bodybuilder" to stay fit. My point is simply this; age doesn't mean a thing. If you take care of your body-your body can still be going strong up into your 70's and beyond. Of course, there are certain totally unexpected events and diseases that can prevent a person from maintaining health into the elder years-however, the majority of illnesses that arise as we get older are preventable-if we work at it.

Yes-I did say WORK at it. You can't take a pill, or WISH you were fit and healthy-you do have to work at it...as anything in life! You work to attain material goods-why not work at attaining fitness as well?!

The Clarence Bass website is filled with heaps and heaps of information and articles all to do with a healthy and fit lifestyle! Have a look-you are bound to find something to interest you there!

And I might as well throw in that our own personal training services...online and in person are available HERE! :-)
Have a fabulous weekend!
Ciao for now!

Hittin' it!

Hi guys! How is everyone going? Me, I'm going pretty strong. I actually hit the wall a bit over the weekend, but once I started training clients this week, it's really motivating me for my own workouts! I train one client first thing in the morning a couple days a week and do my own workout afterwards-so after making her push through-I feel pretty amped to push through my own barriers! It's great!

Other than that, getting the freezer and cupboards stocked up with food as we are heading into the wet season now...I'm sure we'll encounter at least a few days of flooding in which either we can't get to the shops, or the supply trucks can't get to the shops; lots of veggies and lean meat in the freezer-plus lots of canned veg and tuna...in case something worse happens along and the power goes out. I don't want to be caught out during comp prep!

How about you? Have you been planning for unexpected events...even just for those days when nothing goes right, you really need to have a back up plan to stay on the healthy track. Tins of tuna or chicken in your purse (and plastic fork to eat it with!), some prepped chicken burgers or balls in the freezer for dinners. You need to plan ahead if want to achieve your fitness goals!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Pull Ups

Did back & bis today which included some pull ups....they are slightly sloppy; these are the first real pull ups I've done since last March and this was the second set of 4. Not particularly impressive-but fun!

Pull Ups from Raechelle Thomas on Vimeo.

A Day in the Life.....

I was tagged earlier this week by the lovely LAUREN and I have to say... these days, a day in my life is quite mundane. Though, at least now, we actually have some clients on occasion to busy ourselves with! :-)

So-here is a day earlier this week:

5am= wake up (generally about his time every day...natural body clock) toast & coffee while watching the morning news
6-7= work out
7-7:30= stretch & meditate
7:30-9:30= second meal, tidy kitchen, computer-blogs, e-mails, client stuff
9:30-11= errands in town-grab a handful of nuts
11-12= weeding
12-1= lunch and chill
1-2= client consult
2-3= computer work-e-mails; client program a bit
3= protein snack, laundry, read
4-5= afternoon cardio, stretch, shower
5-6= prep dinner (twittering on computer)
6-7= dinner, clean up, shut down computer
7-8:30= tv
8:30-9= read
9 lights out

Yes, I have the computer on all day long and I pop on it very often; especially since friends and family in the states don't get on until their evening.

So, there you go!
Many gals have already been tagged..so-If you haven't done it yet-have a go!
Have a great weekend

FULL VLOG...WOOHOO!

I fianlly figured it out...yay! Here is the full almost 6 minutes of me rambling on...quality may still be a bit low for a while

Still Going Strong

Hi guys! I haven't had much to post because I have been completely obsessed with trying to get a vlog transferred from my new camcorder to the computer. I seriously am like inches from selling the new camera. I might just break down and record a short little vlog on my digital camera again...hmmmm....it is fun LOL and I know how to transfer from that-I just have to rush since the memory is rather small (it's made for stills after all).

Anyway-had a fabulous weekend of workouts. John started training me on Saturday-first sesh was shoulders. It went great....we work well together. Shoulders were sore as planned!

Last weekend marked 19 weeks to the Coral Coast Comp in Townsville and 20 weeks to the Asia Pacific at the Gold Coast. Dang...every time I start thinking about those dates I get a complete jumble of excitement and nervousness-woohoo!

So, how are you going on your New Year's goals and plans? Please say you are going great guns!!!

Cheers all and enjoy the rest of your week! Did you notice the shredded shoulders of the gal in the pic? Awesome!
Ciao for Now!

No Vlog Yet..

Well-I recorded a vlog, but am having a bitch of a time uploading for some reason.First-I am having a hard time even transferring from camera to computer...but I figured out a way-but for some reason it's taking like over an hour to upload to YouTube. I even left to run errands in town-and it was still uploading...and the upload time keeps increasing instead of decreasing. I cancelled the upload AGAIN. I don't know if it's YouTube or my system...but something is not clicking. So, I'm trying to upload straight to blogger now. If that starts looking like it's going to take an hour- I've signed up for a couple other free upload websites-but the videos need to be shorter (I can't believe I blabbed for over 7 minutes...LOL!) so-I will have to shoot again since my editing program doesn't seem to work with the camera either...aaaargh! Which basically means-I will not be posting a vlog until tomorrow....try not to cry...hahaha!
Also, I have decided to only do Tasty Tuesday recipes once a month now...first Tuesday of each month.
Other than that...I FEEL AWESOME!!!! Hope you have a fit-fantastic week!
Ciao for now!

Shoulders Blasted!

OMG...My shoulders haven't felt like this in, well about a year and a half I suppose-that was the last time John trained me. He started training me on Saturdays back in February of 2008 for my first comp.

Well, the good news is I am stronger now than I was 2 years ago! We were both quite amazed. Though I train shoulders regularly-I don't PUSH myself as hard as I can with John standing there to catch the weights if they fall. (You all know what I'm talkin''bout here!) So, I haven't done any real max outs and wasn't really aware of any strength gains.

I am pretty much the same weight that I was in Feb of 2007-the only difference really is that I'm not drinking now. This is the only thing that we can really put our finger on as to my increased strength. So, there ya' go!

Here is what we did:
5 sets of military presses w/barbell 8-12 reps
3 sets of 3 cycles of 3 alternating front straight arm db raises super 3 lateral flys all slow (ends up being about 3 sets of 18 reps)
5 sets of 12 bent over flys
Finished w/arnolds 10 then 8 w/lighter weight...5 sets of that

Onward! Comp prep is on! 19 weeks from tomorrow I step onto the Townsville ANB stage, and 20 weeks from today ANB Asia Pacific. BRING IT!

Is your game on?! Why not? What on earth are you waiting for?!
2010 Sexy Fit Bitch!
Ciao for Now!

Quote for the weekend...

“Trials, temptations, disappointments -- all these are helps instead of hindrances, if one uses them rightly. They not only test the fiber of character but strengthen it...Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.”—James Buckham -writer, author

Too High to be Bothered

That's right! I am way too high on life right now, and in way too good of a mood to be bothered by the fact that our first potential client, who made an appointment to check out the studio, never bothered to show up or even call. The annoying part is did my cardio early, put on makeup, and prepped dinner early for nothing...LOL! I know that this is to be expected in this type of business...but I am surprised that it happened in our little tiny town. You expect that in a big city or from tourists-but not in li'l 'ol Tully with a population of less than 4,000. Oh well! C'est la vie!

No matter-we have a fabulous studio that we love and I am rockin'! John is keen to start his weekly torture of me (comp prep torture that is!)...and we will start that this Saturday. I have started my 4 day rotation so that he will get to hit a different area of my bod each Saturday. We did this for the last comp-and it worked out quite well. The only thing different is that this time I am giving shoulders a day all to themselves. All hail BOULDER SHOULDERS!! LOL That will be John's first mission Saturday-shoulders. Can't Wait!!!

That's about it! Keep up the good fight folks! Don't let little glitches get you down-it's up to YOU to stay positive! I'm staying positive-because I choose to!
Ciao for now!

Pumped, Psyched, and Sore!

I am just a buzz with energy right now! I'm totally amped about the comps coming up this year, and I am very happy to say we have our first potential client coming today to check us out...woohoo! All it took was a flier and basic website (click ONE ON ONE FITNESS)....now just have to sell it in person :-)

On top of that, my glutes & hammies are soooo sore today-they have not been this sore in ages; they better thank me by being quite perky & solid at the comps...LOL!

So, all good! New year's plan of action is coming together! Year of the Sexy Fit Bitch is in motion!

How are you going? It's early days but you should be working at your goals now; If you made a choice to make 2010 a year of fitness and health-then you better be making the most of each day right now-not next week, and especially not next month!

Get out there and get at it! You're body and mind will thank you!
Enjoy your day!
Ciao for now!

Tasty Tuesday & Burnin' Hammies!

This was super easy!
pasta to serve 4
3 medium chicken breasts-diced
1 head of broccoli
1 tomato
1-2 tbs pitted kalamata olives
1-2 tbs fresh chopped basil
2 tbs pine nuts-toasted
sprinkling of Parmesan
olive oil

While boiling pasta-cut up broccoli and tomato and dice up chicken. Cook chicken with a tad of olive oil.

When chicken is almost done-throw in Broccoli and about 2 tbs of water-cook for about 2 minutes. Toss in tomato, olives stir...add pasta and basil last. Place serving on platter and sprinkle with pine nuts and Parmesan.

QUADS AND HAMMIES!!!

My hams are talking to me right now-even sitting down...LOL!

Here is what I did:

dead lifts-
1 set of 12 w/20k on bar
1 set of 12 w/30k on bar
2 sets of 6 w/40k on bar (I know it's not particularly heavy yet-I've only been doing these for a couple of months-it felt heavy to me...hehehe!)

alternating lunges with stepper
3 sets of 10 w/7.5k dumbbells

hanging leg raises (for abs) 12
super set w/leg extensions....12 slow reps w/25k 3 sets of that super set

finished off with lying leg curls
12 reps 15K 3 sets.

I know I need to get heavier on this stuff....but dang..I kid you not-my hams are fried!

have a great day!
Ciao for now!

Putting the Plan into Action

It's January 4th...have you started taking the steps towards your goals for the New Year? Do you even have a plan? I hope you haven't given up already!!

I revised my training plan over the weekend and started on it yesterday. Had an awesome back, bis & tris workout....worked up to 2 sets of 7 reps of 100lb wide grip lat pull downs; gotta' get ready for pull ups for when our power tower arrives. Then did some close grip pull downs and rows. Went on to 3 sets of 21's for bis then concentration curls and finished off with triceps. What's different? Well, I'm going heavier on everything in order to build up now before the stricter diet kicks in.

Today I started on my hill sprint repeats...which I will do once a week with my Monday morning walk/jog session. I haven't done these in almost 2 years..so I'm starting out slow with just 4 repeats...brisk walk to the spot-the 4 hill sprint repeats then a bit of some jogging and walking on the way home. It's a good little 45 minutes session really. And for anyone interested-I did them in my trusty cheap Brooks runners. My session involves some dirt & gravel roads, regular pavement and the hill is on cheap crappy pavement (unserviced type of road). These cheap shoes have lasted through all of these types of surfaces as well as nice sidewalks in California, and blue metal gravel at our last property. They have not fallen apart and I have had no problems with feet or knees. Granted I haven't run any marathons...but I do a mix of jogging and fast walking four mornings a week. I bought some Nike's about 3 or 4 years ago and they only lasted 6 months, if that. I have a pair of Brooks for indoor and outdoor and the outdoor ones I have right now I have had for about 18 months and they are still in great shape! I'm just sayin'!

So, is your plan in action? No sense of making a plan if you're not going to put it to work..LOL!

It's 2010-Have you started the climb?

The climb towards your fitness goals that is! I have! Many of us started weeks ago, either starting a new workout program, quitting alcohol, or have just stayed on track with consistent healthy eating. But if you haven't started yet, that's ok-START TODAY! Don't wait until Monday-if you put it off until Monday you may come up with another excuse to put it off until next weekend, and then it goes and goes and before you know it it's February and you haven't taken one single step towards that fitter, healthier you!

Here is what I'm doing this weekend (in between garden sessions when the rain is pouring!); I'm organising my comp diet and training plan which starts in 8 weeks. This way it's all ready to go so that over the next few weeks I can focus on the business and know that when February 21 rolls around-I will be ready to dig in! I plan to slowly increase my cardio and add another day of weights over the next few weeks so that my body gets used to it before the stricter diet kicks in. First step is to add a day of hill repeats to my cardio regimen. Next I'll add an extra day of weights which will make it 4 days instead of 3 days. I will stick with the 4 days throughout comp prep. Next week I'll order my comp kini too! Woohoo! I'm excited!

That's right folks, it's 2010! Get going!