6 weeks out from IFBB Australian Grand Pirx

Its that time again!!!
Edging closer and closer until my next show which will be followed by many more this year in America! For those that have been following me for sometime I have been training a working my butt of for the past 8 years to get to America. This will be my third year of having a Pro Card and with all my moving back and forward within Australia I haven't had the chance to get to the USA. Now that I m back in Perth with amazing support from Muscle Worx Australia and also BeautyFit those dreams will finally become a reality this year and I am so excited! My drive and determination is more insane than ever and I have 100% given this all I have got... Not to win but to be the best Summer Bernard the world has yet seen.
Today is my rest day and I have found it so hard to rest! I have just completed my second week of intense prep for the competition. Calories have dropped, training has never been so intense with the guidance of my coach Shannon Dey. I must say that now I know what competition preparation is after experiencing how intense training, cardio and dieting must be at a higher level against the best in the world. If you have read my last blog I explained how I realised and confessed on having a bad relationship with food for that one day per week. I think it is very common amongst competitors but now I have got my head around it and am so driven with these weeks leading into competition it has made a massive difference in my overall look. I could not be happier than I am now in the position I am in.
The past week I have been exhausted, sore, grumpy, angry and all the things I usually don't feel until the final weeks of preparation but there is no more rewarding feeling that looking at those changes in the mirror. I always compare myself to me whilst in preparation for competition. I find now that girls compare themselves to others, especially with all of the social media out there. One thing you have to realise is that you can't look like someone else, you are only going to ever look like you! You can change your body to be the best version of you but you will always be YOU! You need to work on what you have got and improve yourself each and every week so don't get caught up in it. By all means others physiques will motivate you and inspire you to get your butt into gear but take progress photos and compare yourself to you and you will always remain positive about your progress. Mentally the road is a lot more tougher than the physical but once you can grasp this you will enjoy your competition or body transformation journey. Regardless you stick to your plan 100%, no excuses and you do what needs to be done.
Thank you for following me and stay tuned for more updates to come! Wishing all fellow competitors the best of luck on the rest of their journey for the IFBB Shows and I look forward to seeing you all soon. Stay strong!!
Much Love xoxox

2013 Plans and Confessions

Hey Beauties,

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and celebrated the end of 2012 in style! The new year always brings newbeginnings, plans and goals. With so many plans for me in 2013 that have already been set in motion, my new year has begun full steam ahead.

Before the holiday season in 2012 I set my goals/plans for 2013 to ensure I stayed focused with my training and nutrition and it made all the difference. As we know it is much easier to stay on track with progress in health and fitness with goals. I would say the heat wave contributed to the amount of relaxing I did as it was too hot to do anything and after training I was drained!

I am now 8 weeks out from my first show for the year which is the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. This will be my third show and third year as an IFBB Professional. In Australia we have only one Professional show per year and with all my re locating since winning my pro card I have had too many distractions to travel to the US to compete. Now with my feet planted wellin the soil of WA, back home where I belong, I have my sights set on the USA. My dream since beginning competing in 2006 has been to travel to the USA to compete and have photo shoots with the talented photographers in the USA. So you can say I am very VERY excited about 2013.

After attending the Australian Grand Prix and other appearances for Australian Fitness events I will be heading to the USA to compete mid year and then if all falls into place, I will be back in the USA for the end of the year. With goals like this set my determination has reached a new level. I have had to balance my life and schedule to ensure that I can maintain a standard for my job, my online business, training, preparation as well as personal life to ensure that not only I achieve my goals but so do my clients and above all myself and loved ones around me are happy. I am not going to lie and say it isn’t a hard task, cause it is! But you have to work hard for everything you want in life, there can not be any excuses.

As I have mentioned in previous blogs my new approach to contest preparation has made all the difference with my physique moving forward. Making it a lifestyle at a completely new level has contributed to my overall shape and mind set. Over 8 years of competing my knowledge has expanded so much, I have had many different approaches to contest preparation and since coming an IFBB Pro I have been on the right track. So that is 4 years out of 7 where I have taken the most healthy, realistic approach to competing. There will always be areas to tweak, new additions to plans but the general rule will now always stay the same for me. It is very easy to get lost in the different approaches but the best advice I can give everyone is to look after YOU! Don’t take drastic measures that will be detrimental to your health as it is not worth it for a trophy. Having a healthy relationship with food and the body that you have is important.

The biggest change for my contest preparation for this comp is changing from a cheat day to a meal. When I begun competing I was out of control! I used to binge on so much food I seriously could blow any males appetite out of the water. I don’t think my italian heritage actually helps lol. Sometimes I would be so out of control it would effect my training as I couldn’t get out of bed the next morning. I would make myself feel sick and the fact that my body was so use to clean foods it would shut down. Over the years I have became better, I made healthier choices for my meals, I begun to cut out sugar as the feeling after having it was terrible the next day. Being constantly on a strict eating regime all year round did become hard for me at times so changing my mental approach and having a healthy relationship with food now makes me feel a lot better. I now am sticking to my guns with one cheat meal which may or may not include an organic natural sweetened protein desert such as my Protein brownies, slice, pancakes or even some tropical fruit for the rest of my contest preparation which will take me through to competition all year.

We all have our vices, the hardest part is to admit it, make a plan and then achieve it. Be strong and confident with yourself surround yourself with people who will support you and NEVER lose site of your dreams. Please feel free to contact me for any advice on ensuring you also have a healthy relationship with food via the following links

www.facebook.com/summerbernard

www.summerbernard.com

 Much love xoxox