Guest Post by Samantha Warshick
One of my 2012 New Year’s resolution was to challenge myself. With this challenge I also wanted to get back in shape. I registered for my first 10km in the Blue Nose Marathon and started training in January. I have never been a runner and although it was a challenge I enjoyed it because I got to see parts of downtown that I had forgotten. I did my long runs with a group on Saturday mornings running by all of the shops, and restaurants on Quinpool and I did my week day runs through the beautiful Point Pleasant Park.
As spring approached I realized I wasn’t quite on track with my goal of completing the 10km. On April 12, I registered with a personal trainer at Goodlife Fitness. (expensive…but worth every penny) and started seeing her five times a week.
A week and a half before the race I injured my knee and could not participate. The old me would have let this stop me. Instead, my trainer and I decided to adjust my training and set a new goal… to compete in my first Bikini Fitness Competition, NSABBA (Nova Scotia Amateur Body Building Association). The competition was set for April 2013 which felt like a life time away. In addition to training with her, I also trained 1-2 times a week on my own; I would do Yoga, go to a Boot Camp, or take a class at the gym. In six weeks I lost 12 pounds and dropped 10 per cent body fat. I could see the goal of walking across the stage was within reach. This was no longer a New Year’s resolution, it was a lifestyle change.
While I spend a lot of time training indoors at Goodlife, I also did a lot of outdoor training too. Point Pleasant Park became my favourite spot for a great cardio workout and was a great way to build quads and glutes with incline walking up the hills. I would also bring a yoga mat to do a full body workout on the grass looking out at the water. I would do lunges, squats, push-ups, planks and crunches. At Beasley I love to run/walk the bleachers to work my quads and hamstrings, run intervals on the track and use the field for circuits.
Healthy Post-Workout Chicken: Chicken with fresh squeezed lemon, olive oil, and greek spices (baked with green peppers), steamed carrots.
After just a few months, I was faster, stronger, leaner and happier, and I felt confident moving around the gym or getting an outdoor workout. Now it was time to focus on the food I was putting into my body to fuel these workouts. I was always generally a healthy person, but now I love spending time at Pete’s, the Halifax Seaport Market and going to Wolfville to check out all of the farmer stands and markets there. I love to see meals on my plate that are full of amazing colors and flavors.
What once felt like a distant competition is now just 6 weeks away. With meals and workouts all in-check, one of the last steps is beauty. These shows are very expensive – you need shoes, a bikini, spray tan, hair, make-up, posing classes and more.
Photo Property of Zig Zag Studio
Thankfully, ZigZag Hair Studio in Bedford will be supporting me and my 2013 NSABBA goals. ZigZag Hair Studio’s Aesthetician Katherine Hanlon has been voted the best in Halifax for two years running by the Coast and one of their Master Stylists Joanne Feaver is someone you need to go see. I am thrilled to be working with the staff at Zig Zag to achieve my on stage look.
The 2013 NSABBA show will be held on Saturday, April 6 at the Rebecca Cohn on the Dalhousie Campus. You will see the best Nova Scotia has to offer as we all try to make it to the podium in hopes of going to Nationals. Want to follow along with my progress as we countdown to the show? Join my Facebook page. Here I post recipes, tips, tricks and workouts.
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