First and Foremost

I believe that you need to “want” to do it for you to achieve what you set out to achieve. I went and saw Jacquie back in November 2008 just feeling tired and bloated most of the time and knew something had to change as I was gaining weight and really didn’t feel good in myself. I thought I was following a good diet before, but turned out I wasn’t at all. I sat in Jacqui’s office and she asked me what I wanted to achieve? I was staring at the amazing photos up on her wall of all the people that had gone down the competition path and I thought to myself that that would be such an amazing achievement, so that is what I said to her – “ I want to compete” and the rest is history.

Diet Tricks

Jacquie worked out a step by step plan for me. It was tailored to me specifically which was great and I had a set goal to work towards. I started on 28% body fat in November 2008 and by following my plan, the results started to show (This was my biggest motivator). Initially I was a bit nervous about changing my diet and was worried that I was going to be hungry all the time, but I actually wasn’t at all. I was eating more than before and more frequently so was satisfied and had no afternoon biscuit or chocolate cravings like I had before. My diet was protein rich and I ate more carbohydrate than before and had to up my water intake. The great thing was that I was still allowed to have a coffee or a tea during the day and Jacquie even worked it into my plan that I was allowed a hot chocolate before bed. I got some protein powder along with some Dr Carbrite protein bars (good for the sweet tooth and very tasty) as well as some essential vitamins and minerals from Real Nutrition. I became quite creative as time went by with my food and was looking forward to each meal, I also got some great recipe tips from Jacquie and great alternatives for things like gravy, sugar, salt etc.

From a training perspective, I had come from your typical “BodyPump / BodyStep class” background, religiously sticking to the timetable each week and doing as many classes as I physically could, however I saw little results. I was familiar with a gym but not with the hardcore heavy weights section, I always felt a little embarrassed or out of place to go and workout with the “big boys”. I realised soon after starting this new regime that I needed to start lifting some weights to build muscle which subsequently leads to your metabolism kicking in which then leads to burning calories.

So yes ladies start lifting weights if you want to see some results! 

I booked myself in to see  Steve Campbell, a very qualified personal trainer at my gym and he helped me out with a weights program along with Jacquie’s cardio program tailored to my diet. Week by week my body changed and the little muscles started to show themselves. I started taking some thermos along with some L-Carnitine all by Jacquie’s recommendation in the last six weeks to help burn fat. My body fat did not drop as much as we had hoped initially with the thermos and L-Carnitine which was caused by my adrenal glands being “stressed”. Jacquie sorted that out quickly by getting me to take some Adrenal Support and I was back on track. Another big part of training for a competition is supplementation such as you essential amino acids. I was taking L-Glutamine and BCAA’s to aid in muscle repair once again by Jacquie’s recommendation. I lost a total of 10kgs of fat between November 2008 and April 2009 and ended up getting up on stage at around 13% body fat and 47 kilos of lean mass. Best of all - I had amazing abs!

My advice to all of those wanting to compete is, be patient, set clear goals, take baby steps and have fun! It’s such an amazing achievement once you actually get there, all the hard work and dedication is totally worth it. If you are seeing a nutritionist, remember they know what they are talking about and just do exactly what they say and you will do well. I religiously stuck to my eating plan, carefully writing everything down (including my cheat meals!) on my meal diary and followed everything Jacquie said step by step and it worked! I am now working on bettering myself for my next competition with the help of Jacquie and the team at Real Nutrition.
They come highly recommended!