12 week countdown Part 1.

Part 1.

So the start of my prep started in about October but the countdown and depletion of certain foods started in January. Every plan is different and you have to find what works for you.. there’s lots of different plans out there and even I get very confused with it all but I’m more than happy with mine as at the end of the day I want my plan to help me live a clean & healthy lifestyle and for now this is what works for me.

Since I started and was on my way with my plans.. I never once cheated. I did exactly what my plan said. So was clean eating all week and was allowed 1 x cheat meal per week.. At the beginning I was still opting for a clean cheat so I would just make a homemade pizza and would have clean eating desserts. As the weeks went on there was more and more temptations or would be someone’s birthday then it was Christmas and New Year etc. so that’s when I decided to actually treat myself on cheat meals and have what everyone else was having on the special occasion or whatever it was I craving which is fine to do too. Nutrition was going well and I was really happy with my training  I would get up at 5.30am as my training sessions would take me approximately 2-2.5hrs to get through that’s doing a weight training and cardio straight after. I was training 5 times a week with 2 rest days, with one of those rest days normally being a walk with a friend on the coast. I trained really freekin hard therefore those rest days were much needed.

I didn’t tell many people I was doing the comp besides family and mentioned it only to a couple of my very close friends. The main reason for not blurting it out to the world was because I was nervous I wasn’t going to be able to do it and if I didn’t tell anyone then no one will be disappointed, and I didn’t want anyone’s opinions as I was doing this for me and people can very easily persuade you to do differently. In this time I had distanced myself a lot from my friends as I just wanted to focus on my plan & I struggled with the temptation of foods if I were to go out, so for me it was easier to have a night in and to be honest I preferred it as I was so exhausted most of the time from working so much, training, cooking my meals it takes so much out of you I can’t even explain. I also work weekends so is very hard for me to catch up with people, mind you it made staying on plan easier as when it comes to weekend it’s so easy to go off track on those social days.

*Just a little side note that I have learnt & for those people who do put off seeing their friends because of their specific meal plans I definitely recommend you explain what your plan is all about to your close friends as this is something that could hurt a friendship – you believing and thinking they don’t or wouldn’t understand isn’t fair on them as you haven’t given them a chance to understand. So instead of saying you can’t have this and that to them when they invite you out for lunch or dinner you need to tell them a bit more on what you can eat therefore they can get a better understanding in order for them to support you completely. You need to explain to them why you’re doing it and what’s involved then they’d understand and it won’t be a big issue for future.*

I was very good at staying on plan, eating accordingly and training was spot on never missed a session nor did I skip a minute of cardio or exercise. It was hard going but I just knew that I wanted it so bad and if I did exactly what they say then there’s no reason for me to not get that body I so badly wanted.

When cheat meal came around I was very specific in who I wanted to spend this time with as it was one night I didn’t have to think about what I was eating or what I was going to cook that sought of thing so most of the time I would spend it with my partner, my family or my very best friends. When my diet became very strict I was getting slightly more cravings so for cheat meal I indulged a lot and I could eat so much as my metabolism is so much faster then everyone else’s so I didn’t want to be out with people thinking I was such a pig haha. I had to be around people that knew what I was like & who liked to indulge with me. Although I was also a big secret eater.. so I would eat a cupcake or tim tams before I got home & not tell anyone so they didn’t think I was over eating on cheat meal although I was still eating a lot anyway I doubt that would make them think any differently lol – but it was just a weird habit I picked up. Even before comp I was a big chocoholic - I would eat family blocks of chocolate all to myself every day so going a plan was a big test for me so I think instead of eating chocolate every day I turned in to a bit of a binge eater during prep.. So cheat meal after 5pm I would eat sooo much food until I went to bed when it was as if I wasn’t going to be fed again. That is something I have struggled with is my binge eating on cheat meals but I have improved so much since those days which I’d love to go into more detail about in another blog update.

So throughout prep I felt really good about myself & I was loving my changes.. I took photos every 4 weeks to track my progress as you definitely can’t notice change yourself but when you look back at photos that’s when you go ‘wow I have changed’.

One thing I have learned is to trust the process I use to think oh god I look the same still nothings changing but when you revert back to photos and measurements it keeps you focused and on track.. Even the 2 weeks leading up to comp I was getting worried I wasn’t lean enough but I would keep that thought in my head trust the process – and I did.. Did exactly what I was supposed to do and the plans worked you just have to be patient and don’t lose sight of it.. Always believe in yourself, your plan and the people who will get you there, it all comes together in the end.

It also got to me that people didn’t notice my changes at the beginning, no one was really commenting on my shape besides of course my trainer & nutritionist (always keeping me positive J) and a few people at the gym but I was wanting my family and friends to notice but they never really did.. when I think about it now I think they probably did but I was perhaps wanting more from them or more of a dramatic reaction or something – but really I see them all the time so I guess they wouldn’t notice.. I didn’t think like that at the time but it also wasn’t a massive issue. I did get the girls at work always commenting on my appearance though which meant so much to me.. they’re the most supportive people and I feel very lucky to work with so many amazing and supportive girls.

So I’m sure you all wondering what it’s like being on a comp plan.. For me I went with a nutritionist that had my best interests at heart.. I said I wanted a healthier lifestyle, I’m not one for too much strictness as I like to be able to enjoy life and the varieties of food as of course you want to look good at all times and still be able to enjoy food so my nutritionist at Naed Nutrition was perfect for me.. flexible and a lot of variety making sure I don’t get any metabolic damage as what some plans can do to people when they’re extremely strict and girls don’t reverse diet back after comp. My health means more to me than winning a comp but I believed I could still be a strong competitor even without an extreme diet like some girls do have. If I wanted it that bad I would get it through a well-balanced diet and training hard. I also wanted to do everything naturally I am a very anxious person and a lot of things set my anxiety off so anything different, caffeine, medications, drinks so many things so throughout my prep the only supplements I took were BCA’s, L-glutamine & protein powder after my workout. It just goes to show with determination & hard work you can still be a fierce competitor.

 You have to really think why you want to compete and I didn’t want to get caught up on all the seriousness and competitiveness but I did want to be a part of such a great event and to be on stage showing off all the hard work I done.. It’s a very empowering feeling.

At the beginning I must admit I was chasing that feeling of winning. I hadn’t had that feeling before.. you know that feeling when they announce a winner and it’s your name they call and you are so shocked you cry and your stomach turns because you can’t believe it’s actually you. I wanted that feeling, I had seen so many videos whether it be people winning, a surprise party for them, soldiers coming home and surprising there family it was just that feeling I was desperately wanting & I thought if I were to win I would get that feeling.. But I learnt throughout the journey what feeling I was really longing for..

 I found at the end of the day what interest me more and what I wanted to do was to do it for myself but I’m also that person that wants to do this as a lifestyle and I want to use my experience to help inspire and motivate other people as that means so much more to me and that way I can continue that good feeling and shared happiness with everyone.

During prep I must admit there were a lot of hard times.. I felt I basically did this prep on my own, of course I had support but its up to me to get myself there.. I didn’t actually have someone close enough to me to ask questions and make sure I was on the right track, yes I had my trainer and nutritionist but I felt I needed someone else who had been through it so I could relate to them and what they went through to make sure it was normal.. So all the hard times I got threw by myself not knowing if it was normal or not. I remember a lot of crying.. I would sit in my room and cry because I had no energy to cook my dinner, I would sit in my car just to have a few minutes to be by myself, I would go to bed so early because I was so emotional and the amount of times I wanted to give up because it felt all too hard. I was soo moody I remember I went into work one day & I love my job but when I got there I saw soo many customers waiting to be served and I just turned around and walked off .. I wasn’t in the mood to be busy and I instantly was pissed off so I had to chill out for a bit until it had died down before I could serve.. was very strange, also there was this one time at work I felt so out of it and sick that I started crying.. I had no idea why I was crying and I was shaking so much, lucky the girls on the counter next to me sat me down and looked after me.. apparently I was having a sugar come down as I had a cheat meal the night before and obviously my body wasn’t responding very well to it and by lunch I was crashing so the girls gave me a lolly snake to help my sugar levels and I was fine after a while but gosh there were so many funny things like that but not as bad that I would think I just wish I knew if it was all normal.. Now I know it all was normal because this time round I’m in prep with a friend whose first time it is and she asks me the exact questions I wanted to ask someone.. Its sooo much better going through this with someone else this time around makes things just that little bit easier.

Also I just want to touch on if you are in comp prep I definitely recommend you not tell anyone about your training or food plan I remember a few competitors who had done it before and other people that knew someone who had done comps would ask me what my plan was like and I ended up telling them as to me I felt like they had done prep before so I kinda wanted that confirmation I was doing it right.. but when I told them I swear they all said ‘ahhh why are you doing that’,’ you shouldn’t be eating that’ ‘oh why are you training that way’ - it was because they didn’t do it so to them mine was wrong?.. this got to me soo much.. it was such a negative energy towards me and it effected my training and eating.. one day my angel of a trainer Seaneen had come in at the right time.. I couldn’t train properly as I had this going over in my head that I was doing it all wrong I was actually borderline about to cry during training but Seaneen sat with me and explained that people will try and knock you down and that they’re only saying its wrong because it’s not what they did but truthfully not everyone’s plan is the same.. and why should it be were all different body shapes so you have to remember trust your plan and by telling people your plan it’s only going to make it harder for you and more stressful on yourself as you’re going to get different versions on what’s right and wrong then you lose your focus from thinking about what everyone’s said. So save yourself the stress and do your own thing there’s no need to get any ones input you don’t need negativity. Trust your trainer and your nutritionist at all times this is about you and your journey. I am very thankful for the advice Seaneen gave me that day.

So after a lot of hard times there were a lot of good times like the feeling of knowing how hard you’ve worked and how much I have learnt about nutrition training and soooo much about myself.. I didn’t realise how strong of a person I was and how much determination was in me until I done something like this.. I actually really loved training eating well and having something to look forward too.. I’v said previously that at first I was in it to win it but after a few weeks in you realise it isn’t about winning it’s about the journey along the way..

I got very ill very close to comp I think I was about 5weeks out and I was out of action for about a week so no training and I couldn’t eat a thing on my plan only dry foods. It broke my heart as I was thinking ‘please no this is my first comp and I want to do it so bad i just want to be better’. I didn’t care if I were to win I just wanted to be a part of it and be on stage for myself. My trainer Seaneen and nutritionist Sinead reassured me that although I was sick to not stress and get back on plan when I’m recovered (it felt like I was never getting better lol) but I did finally get better I eased back into it slowly and just kept my focus.

Then a week later I’m sick again. So I’m 4 weeks away which is a massive deal and I’m sick! I went to the doctors and she said she was pretty sure I had appendicitis now OH MY F******  GOD!!! Excuse my curse word but I literally felt like the world was against me. I remember driving home just crying my eyes out I just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep I was heartbroken to think that’s what I have as we all know this means surgery asap. So I had to wait till the next day to find out my results and as much as I tried to stay positive I just kept thinking “please no.. I’ve worked so hard for it all to just be over in a split second”.. I tried to think as positively as possible but I must say google wasn’t helping me – never look to google to make you better, it makes everything 10x worse haha.

The next day came around and I go see my doctor and she lets me know “I DON’T have appendicitis” oh my god the joy!! Apparently it was from the virus I had that was obviously lingering around but other than that I’m good. Now after hearing that I had more fight in me then I ever have had before I was like “Yess nothing will stop me now” and I would train soo hard because I wanted it that much more.. I had been imagining going on stage for weeks.. Every time I drove down the freeway (not sure why it was the freeway but it was lol) and I would have this feeling overcome me that would make me shiver because I was soo excited about being in the comp.. I still get it now thinking about my next comp I get butterflies and a big smile across my face because it makes me so happy.

Search for a Trainer and Nutritionist

Getting started is very daunting and so I want to take you back to the very start back before I even went to the gym.

Years ago I did netball and personal training twice a week which I loved. I loved my trainer and we formed a very strong friendship, My partner and I were with her for 5 years. The only reason we stopped going was because she was having babies and she had a lot going on. I’m the type of person who is so loyal that I wouldn’t leave until I was pushed to or in some strange way the universe just pushes me to move on haha. Training was a mobile service so we would meet at our local oval to do boxing, circuit training cardio etc. I remember telling my partner I didn’t understand why I wasn’t losing weight I mean I eat healthy and train twice a week, play netball on Wednesdays and occasionally go for a run every now and then and sometimes I’d have a salad lol (in my head having gone for a run or eating a salad I think I’m going to wake up skinny) I was very uneducated and didn’t understand it all properly.(this is why there needs to be nutrition education in schools dam it haha – will get into why “eating healthy is so different to what we actually ‘think’ is healthy” another time)  So my partner was always telling me I needed to go to the gym to do weight training and my eating wasn’t right.. I would get so angry at him because I was so frustrated at the fact I didn’t understand what that meant and how do I learn to do that?

So once we finished with our trainer my partner Nathan said to join his gym.. I said no straight away. I didn’t really like gyms they intimidated me with all the beautiful girls and big muscley guys and then there was me who had no idea what I was doing. It took some time for me to come around and what got me to say yes was Nathan offering to pay for my membership and he would help train me.. bless him;) So I started going with Nathan – we would go at ‘off peak’ hours as it was cheaper and not many people were there at that time, was also flexible with the hours we both worked.. I was happy to go to healthy life gym as it was local, very friendly, not as busy as all the other gyms so I knew I wouldn’t bump into people I knew – as I’d hate for them to see me working out haha.  So Nathan taught me the basics at the gym and we always would go together, I never wanted to go without him as I didn’t really know what I was doing….. Until I got a job where I had to do different hours therefore we had to change to peak hours and meant I had to go by myself.

So I finally did go by myself but would do the same training as that’s what I was comfortable doing. I got to know the trainers there in time and in winter it gets pretty quiet with their clientele so one of the personal trainers offered to train me. I decided to do PT with him once a week then increased it to twice a week – worked out quite expensive for me as I don’t earn very much but I was committed and for some reason I relied on him each week.. He was a great personal trainer, he would push me really hard and I would still recommend him to this day. But I couldn’t afford to keep paying him and this was about the time I decided to get involved in training for a bikini comp. A few of the trainers at the gym was telling me to look into it and I mentioned to my trainer I wanted to train for it. He didn’t have experience in comp training but he told me he knew someone who could help him and he would work out my plan etc.

So he writes me up a plan, an example of a day is - Monday – squats and lunges,  leg extensions, leg curls etc. cardio 30 mins walk. > I wasn’t happy with it at all as it just didn’t seem to feel right, wasn’t hard enough, I didn’t really feel like he knew enough to get me to what I wanted to be as I had done all that type of training for approx. 1yr yet I still looked the same so how will this be any different. I was really stressed about it as I like having him train me but I just didn’t feel like he was the right trainer for a comp. He’s amazing at general personal training but I think I felt like I needed an experienced trainer in that field. I didn’t know how to tell him about it so I decided I wasn’t going to do the comp at all as it seemed all too hard.

Within this time I found my nutritionist, Sinead from Naed nutrition. She was recommended by the gym I went too. I had a consult with her and was ready for my nutrition plan.
So I must explain this which is a little bit embarrassing but I actually had never cooked before – never ever ever.. I could only do oven food and basics.. no clue on how to use a fry pan or how to steam anything. Yet here I am at the nutritionist wanting my meal plan for comps (god I bet your all thinking how the hell I made it to the stage lol)

So I took it home to Nathan and his family as I live with them and asked if they’d help me cook (I can’t even begin to explain how amazing his family is I love them to bits for everything they helped me with) So I don’t even think I listened when I saw my nutritionist Sinead, when I’m excited I seriously don’t take anything in. So I went home to start my prep – I look at my meal plan and I’m overwhelmed.. I have to eat so much food to what I’m use to and it said things for example; 100grams chicken 1 cup veg etc so I saw this 4 x a day 7 days a week. Automatically the ditz that I am I don’t think of salad so I decide to try and cook all this meat and veg all together all mashed up.. it looked like dog food.. took me hours and hours to make and I made pretty much the same thing for each meal: morning tea minced meat and veg, lunch minced chicken and veg, afternoon tea minced meat and veg, dinner fish and veg. Same thing different portion. I had nooooo idea what I was doing.. so I ate like this for a few days and I would cry myself to sleep because I felt so sick and full.  I just didn’t understand and I didn’t dare ask anyone as I felt it was up to me and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

So anyway back to the training sides of things.  I decided to take a break from training with my trainer as I just wasn’t feeling confident with the plan so I told him I wasn’t doing the comp anymore so we stopped training.  There was a new lady who started working at our gym she was Irish and was the one who was giving my trainer advice but she wasn’t going to give him all the information as technically why would she? She wasn’t getting paid. But she approached me one day at the gym just seeing how training was going and I said I wasn’t going to do the comp as it was all too much and I wasn’t confident in the plan and was just over it, it felt all too hard. She was very supportive and said I should do it but I just wasn’t interested. A week or so later my trainer had put in his resignation so was no longer at the gym anymore..

 The Irish lady from the gym approached me again to see how I was and was talking to me about competing and I’m pretty sure this was when I broke down crying.. I was so upset.. This was also around the time I was struggling with the food. I gave up eating on plan as it caused me so much stress. I wanted to compete so badly but I felt nothing was going right I couldn’t find the right trainer I couldn’t understand the nutrition it was all too much.

So this lady sat me down and I can’t explain how amazing she was. She was very comforting and definitely put a positive spin on the situation making me want to compete all over again. She said I don’t need to spend all my money on a personal trainer if I want to do it that bad I can train myself, I can push myself and I will get there.. I had to be dedicated & committed to staying on plan therefore I’d get the results I was longing for.. This was when she says ‘she will train me’ Her name is Seaneen Copeland and till this day she still is my coach and someone who I adore so much.. (so much love for this lady) Seaneen had experience in comp plans, she competed herself and has so much to show for all her efforts within the body building community – I knew right then and there I was in the right hands!!

When I got my plan from Seaneen I looked at it and I swear I had tears of joy in my eyes I freekin loved the look of my new plan. It was all so detailed so I knew exactly what I had to do how many of what exercise and I just could not wait to show my partner when I got home. I really knew this was the right thing.. Couldn’t wipe the smile off my face!!

Seaneen mentioned I needed to go and see Sinead again regarding my nutrition seeing as though I had got it all wrong and I just didn’t understand. So I went back to see Sinead and she explained everything to me. I didn’t realise there was all this other info in my drop box like recipe ideas, having salad for morning tea and afternoon tea, tuna, all these things that were obviously so simple yet I didn’t even realise. Ahhh now I’m feeling back on plan. Slowly – and I mean slowly haha.. I got use to the plan and more confident in the kitchen with Nathan’s family helping me with each meal. I wasn’t great at meal prepping but I got through it at this beginning stage. I started prep early thank god. I started in October to get ready for a March comp so by the time January came around for the 12week countdown I got the hang of it and was confident in my planning. Ahhh it was all coming together.

So when I had my trainer and nutrition plan I decided to find out about what other girls competed and I wanted to chat to them about a few things.. I think because it was all so new to me I felt like I wanted to just talk to likeminded people. There were three girls that I still remember to this day that I can’t thank enough for actually supporting me, giving me advice and helping me throughout my prep. They were these little angels – they probably didn’t realise but I felt like If I needed help they would be there, I didn’t ask them but it was that security knowing some one cared. I had never met these girls yet they were so supportive, there isn’t many girls out there like that let me tell you. So from the bottom of my heart I thank these beauties for encouraging me and giving me the advice along the way.. so thankyou -  Jade Mead, Kimberly Shawcross and Katelyn Rabey. I have met these girls since and still have so much love for them. We will be competing in October this year together I cannot wait:)

So that was the beginning of a very exciting chapter of my journey to the stage.



Want to know more about my Trainer, Nutritionist and the girls I mentioned in this blog.. see their FB pages here -->


My trainer you can find her on Facebook add her: https://www.facebook.com/seaneencopeland.fitnessjourney?fref=ts

My nutritionist:
https://www.facebook.com/naednutrition?fref=ts

Emma Brown Fan Page:https://www.facebook.com/EmmaBrownModel?fref=ts

Katelyn Rabey Instagram - www.instagram.com/katelynrabey

Jade Mead Fan Page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jade-Mead/596822307000169?fref=ts

Kimberly Shawcross Fan Page:https://www.facebook.com/KimberlyShawcross1?fref=ts

Always Support the locals!!

If your not already Follow me on Facebook & Instagram :)https://www.facebook.com/CourtneyPiercyModel?ref=hl

@Courtney_piercy

Why fitness modelling is for me

Welcome to my blog guys!! I've started up this blog so everyone interested in my journey can get a better understanding about my lifestyle as a fitness model and of course I’m blogging to help you guys too whether it be in fitness, health, motivation, life, beauty, modelling, clean eating recipes and anything else you guys would like to know. I’m here to help and inspire..
The point of my blog is so you guys can get a better understanding of who I am as a person.. I know you all may see what’s on facebook or Instagram but we all know we only share what we want people to see so of course life seems perfect haha.
But here I will be very honest and open for those who are interested and want an insight into my lifestyle.
 

I chose to do this lifestyle for many reasons; I have always been into sports when I was younger I cant even begin to explain how competitive I was.. I was extremely active and still am :)

I don’t drink alcohol and I’ts been that way for a few years (for many reasons) I may have one or half a drink once in a blue moon because I want too.. It’s normally when I’m in a comfortable environment and no ones told me to have a drink - if you tell me to have a drink or make a big deal that I don’t drink then I will most definitely not have one with you Haha.

 

Another few reasons as to why this lifestyle is for me is because I’m not too social.. mostly because I work 2 jobs and one being a makeup artist therefore I work all those hours people are social for;) and also have my modelling that I work on in my free time

 

One day I thought I wanted to do something different with modeling.. be apart of a new world and I remember my partner telling me years and years ago about fitness comps but this wasn’t big back then and I didn’t know how to start or know anyone who did it. But about 1.5-2years ago I was at the gym and a few people mentioned about competing although I said no at first it planted a seed in my mind.. Slowly more and more people mentioned it and so I started to think about it.. I noticed a small amount of girls in my facebook newsfeed who competed and also one of my best friends which made my final decision and go ‘yup’ this feels like something I’d be interested in. I didn’t want to copy and it could have come across that way but I thought No’ she’s inspired me and that is a different thing. I didn’t know that many girls who did it so I was like this is a great start for me.

I felt like this lifestyle suited me and was a sport I wanted to be a part of. I am passionate and dedicated in all aspects of my life and especially in health and fitness. I was ready to start researching and get myself started.

when I mentioned to my partner that I made up my mind I’m going to be doing it remembering he was one of the people who said I should.. he says to me ‘yeh you should but I don’t think you’ll be able to do the eating part that’s the hard part’ – he says this in a concerning matter not like I shouldn’t do it but never the less I was determined to prove to myself and him I can do anything if I put my mind to it.. so the journey began.. first up how to find a trainer and nutritionist to get me to the stage :)
 
 

A lot of you may look at fitness model pics or anyone in general for that matter and go ‘ahhh I want to do what they’re doing’ but if you really think about it, maybe you just admire their efforts and success. Sometimes I think that’s the confusion. I have looked at someone’s photos and thought that exact saying and I must admit I get jealous but in my mind I must think this is amazing for them – its not what I want for myself therefore I don’t dwell on that jealous feeling, I replace it with admiration. If you think about it have you always thought about doing what they're doing, is that what you feel suits you and your lifestyle, will doing this make you happy. If so then its a go ahead to follow your dream if its not then think about what interests you, what you love doing, what makes you happy and you will be at peace with that feeling of jealousy as you know its not for you. I look at people who go on international trips for a long period of time and I get extremely jealous - jealous at the fact that they can travel anywhere they want to go and not be anxious. I get bad anxiety just thinking of being away for that long, therefore its not for me and now iv found what it is that I love doing and am focused on doing what makes me happy J

These first few blog post will be just getting to know a little background about me.. so In my next blog I will cover how I got myself started, (and gosh that was a struggle) how different healthy eating actually is (I thought I was eating healthy but my was I in for an eye opener)and i'll touch on a few other things.

Once you know my background I’ll get into my daily blogs as I’m coming up to comp prep so this way I can blog about my days, insight to how I train - with some videos attached, what I’m eating, what I’m doing that day, my moods – and their going to be extreme coming up to prep haha, some recipes, tips and how I manage my anxiety and much more. Please feel free to comment or pm my fan page with topics that you would like me to talk about :)