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MONTY’S BLOG
24/01/10

Okay, so here I am just over 5 weeks away from hopefully competing in the 2010 Arnold Amateur Classic in Columbus, Ohio.

My feelings are very mixed. I’m really keen to compete there and to represent New Zealand and to learn from the experience. The girls that are going will be awesome to hang out with, and having the very friendly Brian McFarlane as the Official, I think there will be plenty of laughs. I’m disappointed that Jo won’t be there as she has done the International scenes before and will know so much about what to do with the diet etc but hey, shit happens.

But am I competing? This is still yet to be confirmed to me. After the NZFBB had their meeting at the end of last year I had a message from Terry Hills to say that they had approved my application and that there would be some funding. I was ecstatic! I called Moe (NZFBB President) and he said that all that was required from me at that stage was my passport number which I promptly emailed to him mid December. This is to check whether I have any criminal records. Luckily I don’t – not even a speeding ticket, so my halo is shining brightly, lol (my day will come no doubt)
So with this news I have trained and dieted (as you know) throughout Christmas and New Year.
After New Year I caught up with Kristy Thomson and asked whether she had heard anything about the AC. She said that Moe had called her and said that she was accepted/going. I hadn’t had a call so I emailed Moe to try and find out for sure but I guess he was overseas and may have missed my email as there was no reply.
So I decided not go with the family to Matauri Bay this year for the annual 2 weeks of camping. I just went up last weekend to catch up with everyone and have some time out but even then I still did two walks up that Matauri Bay Road Hill which is a killer. Matamata is so flat that when you throw in a steep hill that you walk up (30% incline?) for 30mins in a sheltered gully, it really gets the heart rate up and a good trickle of sweat drips down your back and off your eye brows. Walking down brought on its own pains the next day with both shin muscles being sore and hip flexors as well. We tend to do incline work but hey a decline, never. So that was interesting.
On my return it was back into Jo’s new high rep program (as in do 40reps, then 20reps slow, then 20 ½ reps and 20 full reps) And did I mention - SUPERSETTING!!!! It is a killer.
Then last week Brian text me that Moe needs my passport number. Hmmmmm?? But I sent that to him a month ago. Brian had arranged flights and was I joining them? Well, I don’t know. So I leave a message with Moe to call me Friday morning and he calls back just as he is about to step onto the plane back to the States. I managed to find out that my application had been sent but I still did not get a 100% Positive, YES you are confirmed. I have a few questions but Moe’s gotta get on his plane. So I have gone ahead and booked my flight with Brian and the girls. I want to do the team thing and not be alone. It would have been okay to make my own plans before, but then my husband went & booked a hunting trip to Stewart Is and won’t return til the 1st March, so my driver/helper bailed on me to go and shoot & kill stuff! Priorities huh? Where is da love??
The other thing that I discovered was that we Amateurs only do a 2 piece bikini round. No one-piece required. I was so annoyed with myself as I purchased a Jagware one piece from divaexchange.com. It is beautiful but it isn’t required! How dumb am I? I even double checked with the girls on siouxcountry.com. and the IFBB.com website about the AC. Anyway, for now I will just get a new bikini made and if I don’t compete it can still be used in NZ, the same with the one piece. It isn’t money wasted but I probably didn’t need to buy it during the most expensive time of the year, right?

Last week I met Delwyn Evans. Delly is from Te Awamutu and had Facebooked me that she would love to catch up for a coffee in Matamata. No Problem, I’d love to meet for a chat (no lunchy tho’). Delwyn competed at the Coromandel Classic in Physique in 2008 and then at the 09 NZFBB Nationals, again in Physique. Delly is one of those amazing people stories whereby said person who is 5’2”(?) manages to top the scales at 96kg, goes EEEKKK and then decides to do something about it. Incredibly losing 20kg in her first year of going to the gym! Then her goal was to do a competition. Now you can just imagine the criticism that she would have endured during the process but she slogged away and made it AND looked bloody awesome too!! Great legs and a great back – well done Delwyn you used that negative shit to push yourself and definitely showed everyone what a woman in her mid 40s can do – go girl!! You will look fab this year so all the best.

So basically, I’m happy with where I am at body wise (or bodyfat-wise). Legs have some definition, abs are just there, and everything is starting to take a nice shape. I have been practising US posing and the individual presentation. Hey, no routine – how cool is that! Would like to lose a bit more off of the butt and tri’s so no slacking off. Weight was 61.9kg this morning and I started January at 64.1kg. Keeping the protein up, and generally listening to my body. If I’m starving – I will eat.

Good luck everyone with their plans for this years comps. My buddy Tara is going to do Physique at the Auckland Champs and she is really fired up and dying to see what she has created muscle-wise since last year. Go Tara, just 19 weeks to go!

Cheers!

Monty
xoxox

Monty’s Blog
January 2– 2010
An Exclusive “Bodypro” Sponsored Athlete -www.bodypro.co.nz

My prelude to Christmas was intense to say the least.
It all started when my daughter drove to Whangarei for a BMX racing competition. I did not want her to go (mother’s intuition) mainly due to that road North being a bit accident prone. So sure enough, Saturday afternoon the phone goes “Michelle has been in an accident” Fortunately it was off of her bike and not in her car but she did have a broken arm. So one week later we go to the Dr’s, remove the cast, re-xray and then surprise, we have to go to Waikato Hospital for a CT scan. Well, after travelling to Hamilton daily and many hours sitting uselessly at the ward, waiting for the CT scan, it finally gets done on the Friday. Come back next Monday as it needs an operation and some screws and a plate inserted (it was actually broken in 3 places – thumb, wrist and the radius). Now this was all happening during one of the busiest weeks of the year for us at work, not to mention that our despatch lady was away all week due to a bereavement and that I was trying to weight train and get cardio squeezed in as well. That left our business short staffed by 2 people – it was not ideal. The funny side of it is that the Lifts at the hospital have notices saying that they are trying to get the emergency stay time to be 6hrs maximum!!! Well, I thought that was the minimum stay time but 6 days was OTT!

Monty having finished her workout and back into the house - for some chicken no doubt

So that under control, my parents flew in from Adelaide to help cook as Christmas was at our place. I’m stressing that there won’t be enough food, that my daughter’s hand has swollen, that I have paperwork/invoices to check, plus keep training etc etc. (oh yeah, and pre-menstrual, LOL). Anyway the day went well and I had my Bollinger as a treat and sampled some desserts. The sugar hit the spot for the day but Boxing day was no drinkies or bad stuff and I felt so much better for it. The next day I actually threw out HALF a Chocolate Cheesecake, some Tiramisu, Fruit Terrine, Oaty Slice and a fruity Ice Cream cake.
The Sugar Industry is a conspiracy in my mind. Sugar is in so much more food than it ever used to be and once you have done a competition diet you really see it simply for what it is – it makes you fat. Drop the sugars and the weight will fall off. Unfortunately it is cleverly presented in so many colourful and tempting forms as in breakfast cereals, bread, spreads, snack bars, drinks and lollies. You just don’t NEED it but the more that you have it the more you like it. People don’t realise it but they probably find sugarless foods taste bland so that they have to add a sauce, but I had some fresh Broccoli last night and it tasted so sweet and nice just as it was. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Big Sugar Moguls have money invested in drug companies that manufacture Diabetic Medicines!

New Year was a quiet one. Just had a toast (bubbles not bread) and a steak on the BBQ. We were meant to go to Sarah Goldy’s party dressed as Trailer Trash (cool theme!) but we were too pooped by the end of the week. I guess I also didn’t want to be tempted to drink myself silly or eat to excess. I’m still thinking ahead for the Arnold and by the looks of things, by the time we find out if we have been accepted by the IFBB, it will be way too late to start dieting so I can’t afford to slack off. This has meant training at home again while the gym was closed over Christmas and New Year. A small town like Matamata doesn’t have the population to warrant the gym being open every day so I shooed the daddy long leg spiders away from my equipment and got into it. Tara was away as well but I enjoyed training at home again for a change. The benefits are many – you can play your music (like 80’s Divynls, INXS & Ricki Lee Jones), the equipment is always free, you can train at any time, you can have the fan pointing directly at you, you don’t have to shave your legs or arm pits every day (yay), you can hang out the washing between sets and you can struggle and make noises and no-one looks at you funny!

My diet/training at the moment goes like this:
6-30am Thermos, Mint Green Tea & 30mins to 1hr Cardio (depending on what I do)
Breakfast – ¼ cup dry oats (soaked in water o/night) with 4 egg whites and 1 scoop of either BSC Caramel Protein Powder or Yummy Myofusion Vanilla PP., BCAAs, Glutamine, Multi, Glucosamine,
(Favourite Meal of the Day –gets pretty boring after this)
8-30 Weight Training
Morning Tea – Chicken & veg
Lunch – Chicken and Salad
Afternoon Tea – Chicken/veg OR 6 egg whites with a squirt of lite Tomato sauce OR a protein shake if the sweet tooth is begging. Glutamine.
Cardio – 30mins to 1hr (again depending on what I do)
Dinner – Chicken and veg. (Once a week I will have salmon or eye fillet steak) BCAAs.
Evening – hard boiled egg whites or chicken to nibble on. Not much and I don’t always have this.
Bedtime – “A Bomb” capsule (I take 2 of these a day, the first one between morning meals)
Sleep, repeat.

I was chatting with Charwyn at the gym the other day and telling her how I’d thrown out the half cheesecake. I believe that once you have paid for the item that whether you eat it or throw it out, it doesn’t matter as you have paid for it already. Charwyn then added that if you eat it then you have paid for it twice ‘cos now you have work off the calories! I liked her way of thinking – so think about that next time before you have that sugary naughty thing.

So here we are at Christmas time again. Always so busy for everyone this time of the year with work, training, family, Christmas socialising, shopping etc. that it actually makes me crave a normal work day again. For a merry time of the year it is a shame it can end up so STRESSFUL for people!

For me, one of the best parts of this year (besides my Nationals win & my Bodypro sponsorship), has been the fantastic news that the NZFBB has accepted my application for the Arnold Amateur Classic 2010. As I have mentioned previously it is the one International comp that I would love to compete in and to now be one step closer is just so exciting! I believe that I still need to actually receive an official confirmation from the Arnold committee that I have been accepted as they would get hundreds of applicants, but in the meantime it has really given me that extra energy when training and certainly more focus with the dieting side. The NZFBB has offered me some funding as well, which will definitely help go towards my expenses – so thanks heaps J.
I’m also dying to know who else will be going in the amateur division – as so are a lot of other people. Time will tell.

The disappointing thing of course, was that Jo did not make the selection into her Pro Class. I’m so gutted for her but like the true competitor that she is, she just picks up her lip and lines up her next competition and away she goes again. Awesome attitude! In the same circumstances I may have strayed from my diet and had a little chocolate martini to soothe my battered ego (at just a mere 1800kj per glass – WTHell!). But in saying that, I must admit that when I did the CNI’s it was brought to my attention by someone that I couldn’t win Bodyfitness at the Nationals. We all know that there was a lot of Hoo-Haa going on prior to the event in regards to the Bodyfitness/Figure rule change, but you know what, hanging your head and acting like a beaten dog does nothing. Comments like that can just make you want to train harder. It worked really well for me and I surprised myself so “Don’t let negative comments or bad news get you down as it can undo your training both mentally and physically – instead use it as your training weapon and work through it” (quote for the day by moi, lol!)

This year has been so cool. Training has been awesome as I have ventured back to the public gym rather than training at home and most importantly, I have had the great company of an awesome training partner in the very smiley & effervescent Tara. It has been also really neat as she finally competed this year is Figure and came third and she now intends to aim for the Auckland Champs and do Physique which is really more her style. Tara has the same competitiveness as me training wise. She loves training chest and I love training back. She has the most amazing squat technique and has made me keep up with her. I actually love training legs now which is such a bonus. I still don’t like chest days but I have improved there significantly and of course Tara’s back has grown now too.
So even though I have heaps to chat about I will save some for my next blog. I would like to share things like what my diet consists of, the sugar industry, hospitals and my gym changes.

Also, if you bodybuilders need any supplements, mention to Derek or Kylie that you know me as a friend either from Jo’s website or through my Facebook, and they will do you some special prices! Too easy I say.

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MONTY’S BLOG
05/12/09

Okay, my surprise news may have been leaked out a bit early but for those that have not yet noticed, I am now being sponsored by Bodypro Nutrition & Tanning – so how cool is that - Thank you so much to my friends Derek and Kylie Hall!
I first bumped into Kylie at my first competition in 2005. It was the Auckland Champs and Kylie (Mair) won the Novice Figure Short and I won the Senior Figure O-35. We were both in the Overalls together and Kylie took that title as well. She looked amazing with perfect – well, perfect everything actually. Later on I was to find out that she had been sick as a dog that day and nearly didn’t make the night show!
So over the years Kylie has competed very successfully in both Figure and Bodyfitness with Regional and National Titles. Along the way she met Derek, got married and now has two young children – one pink one and one blue one (clever girl)
Derek and Kylie run Bodypro Nutrition & Tanning in Albany, Auckland. The shop carries a fabulous range of supplements but if you can’t make it there, then definitely order on-line (with free shipping) and have your goods delivered within a few days. I have been getting my protein powder and supplements from Bodypro for a quite a while now and their knowledge and service is awesome. The girls at my gym have become hooked on Derek’s “Oh Yeah” Bars but just be warned - if you try one you might be hooked too!
So thanks heaps Derek & Kylie for being my sponsors. I feel very lucky to have a sponsor but to have you guys on side just makes it even more special.

So, 3 weeks until Christmas – Yehaaaaaaaa. I’m so not looking forward to saying “No Thanks” to all of those tempting goodies and then having people say
“Go on, just one won’t hurt you. You could do with some more meat on your bones……..” Hmmm……..Sound familiar?? Well, I’m actually happy to have some meat on my bones but it may be the layer of fat on top that I don’t actually like.
Question- Why do other people seem to have more of a problem with what you eat than you do??
I’m just fine with protein based food. It is survival food. I feel great eating clean. My clothes all fit me which in turn puts me in a good mood – which is then good for everyone.
Recently on two occasions I have had treat dinners. There were nibbles being passed around, wines, steak and dessert. I enjoyed the flavours, loved the steak and enjoyed the wine but the worst thing was the swelling. You see, I do not have much sodium in my diet and when I dine out on foods with a higher salt content than I am used to, I get “fat, swollen feet”. My stomach also goes watery, my lower legs feel like someone else’s and I generally feel yuk.
So with my treat days over I am now focusing on my next goal – The Arnold Amateur Classic held in Columbus, Ohio, USA. I have watched this competition the last few years and if I was compete in an overseas competition, then this is the one I would most want to do. It is a huge event with Amateur and Pro divisions. Jo has successfully competed there the last two years in physique and I would like to attempt the Amateur Figure section.
This year I watched the Figure class that I would enter and I really feel that I would have been competitive in that line up.
So now I have to wait.
I have applied to the NZFBB to hopefully get me an invite based on my competition history this year but I need to wait until they have a meeting to see if I get the thumbs up. Waiting for this sort of news is not for the faint hearted I can tell you! Luckily we are quite busy with our business at this time of the year so sitting around and chewing my fingers isn’t an option.
I think the NZFBB will have a meeting soon so hopefully before Christmas I will have some news one way or another but in the meantime, I will keep training hard, clean up that diet, step up the cardio and start saving………..

BTW, my class will be held on March 4th which will be my 45th birthday – now wouldn’t that just be the most amazing birthday present?

20/11/09
So who guessed that that is me in the photo?
Yes well, that was when I was a carb- gorging, over-holidaying, soaking up the sun and sucking on the vino’s, very uneducated on diet…average 39 y.o mother who really, truly believed that my tummy rolls were hereditary!
What a difference I have made to my lifestyle since.
I think that when this photo was taken I had recently sold my horse and was therefore doing little to no exercise. I was milking cows every day but that didn’t really burn many cals.
It started when I wanted to look sharp for my 40th birthday coming up the following March. I was never a “fatty” but I was “skinny-fat”. Once I stopped competitive riding my muscle tone just disappeared. I was determined to keep my weight down at whatever cost and of course that meant poor eating choices or lack of food to maintain 60kg.
That is where the gym came in. I wanted to get back some muscle tone so that I could look svelt for my 40th. I did an 8 week challenge and just loved it! I became educated about diet and adjusted mine completely. I never felt hungry and actually ate more often.
But then the next thing going on in my head 3 months later was “what is going to keep me motivated to weight train 5 days/week?”. I was travelling 24km a day to go to the gym and I needed fresh inspiration. That was when Brenda (P.T at the gym), suggested we go and watch the CNI’s Champs in Hamilton.
O.M.G……..It was amazing. I was now totally inspired to do a competition in this class they called “Figure”. I didn’t even know that such a class existed but when I saw Jessie Foley take out the Overall Figure, I sure knew what I wanted to do. These ladies were beautiful!
So that is how I started out. I did not have a 40th because I was dieting for my first Figure competition (ironic, huh!) at the Auckland Champs at the end of May 2005. But to be honest, the win in my first competition far outweighed a boozy 40th with a hangover plus just being another night that no-one probably remembered anyway! The whole ability to turn an introvert like me, to get on stage in a bikini, and pose, and smile, and then do a dance on my own – well, who’d have thought????? Seriously if I can, anyone can.

Monty after the INBA 1996

Plus I have learnt many things about this sport:
1. You will definitely get out what you put in
2. Eating clean really does become a lifestyle
3. The other ladies backstage are fabulous! Everyone appreciates how hard it is to get there so there is no bitching.
4. You inadvertently set a great example for the family – Grant loves his egg white and kumara omelette or his porridge for breakfast
5. Competing is fun and addictive and it does get easier

The famous white bikini CNI 2006 and Monty in comp in 2008

Anyway, that is a brief introduction about how I first became involved with Figure/Bodyfitness.

Next week I have will share my goals and plans for next year and I also have some special news too……………….(yep, gunna leave ya danglin’!)