Fitness America Pageant - Backstage Pics

"Colin and Graham's Excellent Adventures" at the MuscleMania Euro Championships

So apparently there were the two Irish clowns from the TV show "Colin and Graham's Excellent Adventures" at the MuscleMania Euro Championships. I thought something was peculiar about them as they were first timers who didn't even plan a routine for their category. Got wind from my buddy who saw me on Irish TV the other night LOL. Here's a YouTube clip of my "interview" with them right after the show.



They keep zooming in on the former Mr. Venezuela BBer judge who's laughing his ass off at their performance in this video.

Fitness America Pageant

Been crazy busy since coming back from the World Championships....

I didn't place in either of my categories as the girls I must say were very exceptional and amongst 40 girls in the Bikini Medium alone I was probably "run of the mill", even with all of my heavy training and diet. Seriously everyone brought their A-game and it was awesome to learn and watch. Now I know what I need to do to be competitive next June at Fitness Universe.

I knew that I wasn't on top of my game coming into the show as I was juggling a couple of other priorities at the same time so I set my goals out to be 1) make new USA friends 2) network with supps/mags/etc and 3) understand the standard in the North American MuscleMania/Fitness Universe federation.

Mission accomplished! :)

Location: Viva Las Vegas! The Golden Nugget











Lindsay Messina, Fitness America darling. She has won the Bikini overall and Fitness catagories in the past years.

Flexing it up with Morris Mendez, great to meet him at the show, very personable and has that movie star quality to him.

Kevin Levrone, with 22 professional IFBB wins. He's an eight-time world champion, won the Arnold Classic two times. Whew!

David Lovelace! MuscleMania Pro and all around good guy.

2009 Model America Winner Brandy Shearer and 2009 Model Universe Winner Melissa Pittman.

Johnny De Beer, the coolest Dutch fighter/actor around and the wonderfully kind Natalia Muntean, 09 Bikini Universe and 09 WBFF Diva Fitness Model world champion.

Armen and I hanging with the Status Magazine boys David and Rodney backstage at the Model America men's room. HAHA yes I found my way back there :P

The South Korean team. They came into this show shredded, amazing stage performance, million dollar looks. Seriously, look how tall they are - I'm 5'9 with heels!! (swoon) :D

Rocking it with MuscleMania World Champion Morris Mendez.

Killing it for the 2nd time, Alejandro Castillo wins Model America. Great stage presence.

Flying to Vegas Today

Good morning! Packing for Vegas alooking forward to having a blast at the Fitness America Pageant this weekend where I will compete in the Ms. BIkini and Model catagories. You can watch the live webcast here. I heard that there will be >300 of the world's hottest bodies and all sorts of other fitness industry people there to network..... Poor me. LOL

Zanetti Diet - 2 weeks Out from FAP

I opened my Facebook today and this is how the message started...

CHANGES TO THE PROGRAM
Small changes but important

Turin Nov 6th 2009

Miss. Minh Natalie (Nutritional and physical preparation to the Miss Bikini contest LasVegas 2009)

Age: 29

Height: 163cm

Waist 67cm. -1 to be taken to 65

bodyfat % considered 20 – 2 % to be taken to 18 %

Weight: 56,7 kg To be taken to 55 kg. at the competition
I think that a reasonable weight could be 55, no less, in reason of the time available and the fact that you had physical problems

We do have approximately 2 weeks to loose 2 kg.
I made few adjustments......

5 lbs in two weeks, this is gonna be fun!! :P

2009 MuscleMania European Championships: My Brazilian Samba Performance

Excuse my awesome dancing skills as I learned it 3 days before stepping on stage :)

Some pics from the MuscleMania European Championships

I don't have many pics but these show me on stage with the Figure girls where I got 3rd Place.

MuscleMania European Championships Updated Schedule

Musclemania Europe Champion di Milano 3-4 Ottobre 2009

How to reach the Event:
1- Congress Center Leonardo Via Senigallia 6 Milano
exit Cormano on Northern bypass of Milan
2- Phone number to reserve rooms +3902-64051

Timetable for Athletes:
Registration Sat 3rd October 2009
Registration Miss Bikini Fitness 3 pm Hotel Leonardo
Registration Model Man e Woman 3,30 pm Hotel Leonardo
Registration Figure woman 4 pm Hotel Leonardo
Registration Bodybuilding and Novice 5 pm Hotel Leonardo
Registration ending 7 pm

Media Session 8 pm Theater leonardo

Prejudging and Final Sun 4th October 2009
Prej Miss Bikini Fitness Model Man Woman 10,30 am
Prej Figure 11,00 am
Prej Bodybuilding Novice ore 12,00 am

Finals exibitions and price 4 pm

Approved Divisions and class:
Miss Bikini Fitness ( unique )
Model ( unique )
Figure ( unique )
Bodybuilding Femminile ( unique)

SMD: 3 Days from the MuscleMania European Championships

MuscleMania European Championships in Milan, ITALY Oct 3-4

Been following the Scarsdale Medical diet, coupled with my fitness regime, with insane results.

Sept 7: 132 lbs
Today Sept 30: 122.8lbs

Holy Crap. My eyes bugged out when I saw that this morning, feeling like Rocky!! HA!

3 days more to go and I'm keeping up the pace til Friday as best as I can. After the Euros, I have 6 weeks for the Worlds (Fitness America Pageant) in Las Vegas where I'm going to need to come in even leaner and more muscle if possible. The girls are super competitive at this show, I'd count my blessings if I could crack top 10 there. But it will be an awesome networking opportunity prior to relocating to LA in December (about 90% certain at this point). It's my dream to go all-in with my fitness/photography/modeling - I believe in myself and I'm honestly going to give this every effort inside me to make my dreams a sustainable reality.

2 weeks out from the MuscleMania European Championships

SMD: Day 4

Day 1: 132lbs
Day 2: 127.2lbs
Day 3: 128 lbs
Day 4: 128 lbs

Holy crap I feel like crying today just from the fatigue from diet and exercise.  It's not a voluntary kind of crying I feel like doing, more like my mind is completely blank and the body wants to do that because it's unhappy.  (although writing about my body in the third person is actually giving me a little laugh though). 

I got to this same point mentally last year in the last two weeks when I prepped for the MuscleMania Italian show, just demolished myself at the gym and lived on salads and protein.  Let's just say that my boss wasn't too happy about my work output as I couldn't remember much during this time.  Actually, it's kind of like living in the movie Memento, the dude with the short term memory who has to write himself thousands of notes, take Polaroids of everything, and tattoo the most important things in his life to his body.

Yesterday I did 45 min cardio (30 min HIIT stepper and the remainder on the treadmill) followed by 4x15 straight legged deadlifts and some chest work (I think, can't really remember!).  Came home at 10pm ish and baked all of my food that I bought.  Got some great recipes to share with you in the next few blog posts!

Probably had about 1200-1300 calories yesterday, all very clean. 

Weight is holding steady for the last couple of days however I see my abs clearly leaning out.  I'm holding water for the next few days until my cycle is over so no worries there. I bought 12L of SPA water which is a very light water, minimal minerals which I will drink during my last days.  Starting to plan out the depletion phase that will occur during my last week before the show.

My favorites during this time are:

• B-50 complex: keeps me awake.
• Coffee. Ditto
• Glutamine: Recovery
  
• CLA, BCAA, L-Carnitine: Fat burners and aminos to process protein more efficiently.
• VPX Clenburtrx Hardcore: This is a recommendation from Rob. Crazy energy on only 1ml. FYI, this is an OTC product, not real Clen!  All of my federations are natural only and all athletes go through doping control.
  
• Metamucil Sugarfree smooth fiber: I take a huge spoonful in the morning and it keeps me full.
• iPhone: got all my music in there, Facebook, etc to keep me entertained.
• Sugar free Werther's Originals: a couple of these a day keeps my sweet tooth at bay.
• Spearmint sugarfree gum: nam nam nam
• Photoshop: endless hours of creative entertainment for this photographer.
• Sparkling water: helps me down all of the pills
  

There's been a pickup in Italian interest as well, getting more messages from other fitness people, mags, etc related to my attendance of the show.  When I go into a show, I do treat it professionally with the intention to do alot of networking.  So exciting to meet all of the friends and fans who come out to support.

Muscle and Fitness UK Online Feature

Check me out on Muscle and Fitness UK's website!

Scarsdale Medical Diet

Back from Sardinia and put on 5 lbs in 3 days. WTF. I think it's a number of factors: I ran stairs and hills while there (normally I do not do high impact) and I can feel myself swelling, monthly cycle, tasty cheese, and alot of carbs and salt in the meals.  Basically all the things that you shouldn't do but made an excuse for.

Regardless, I'm 3 weeks out from show and this is freaking me out.  The best thing to do to catch up is to cut the calories via low carbs and fat, keep protein relatively high, and drink alot of water.  My calorie intake will be very low for the next few days while I maintain a regular workout schedule. 

I heard about the Scarsdale Diet from Telihana and she had some quick success with it.  It's very close to what I'm doing today but with MUCH less calories.  This diet has one on about 800-1000 calories.

You can find all of the diet details here.

Government esearch shows that a reduced calorie intake is the key to losing weight.  This study compares numerous diet tenets and came to this conclusion.  It's mathematical: 3500 calories = 1lb of fat.  

OK, gonna suck it up today.  I'm going to follow as close as I can but it probably won't be exact.  I'm expecting to cut about 500 calories from my regular diet and keep up the cardio/weights pace.

The different Catagories within Physique/Bodybuilding Shows for Females

Physique competitions are measuring your level of muscularity, leanness (conditioning), and symmetry. Within a typical bodybuilding/physique show, there will be multiple categories that based on different severities of these measures. Here’s a breakdown of the typical categories for the females, going from most stringent physically to least:

Bodybuilding (BB).

This is typically the stuff that the general public thinks of based on what they see on TV: Big, veiny, ripped to shred chicks who are running out barefoot onto stage and busting out crab poses and baring teeth. There’s obviously a big difference in BB chicks depending on if they are natural athletes or not. Natural female BB athletes are not able to put on as much muscle as juiced chicks because you need a lot more testosterone to do that. You will usually find this class of athletes in their 30s – 50s which I think is due to muscle maturity and as we get older the skin is leaner.

Figure.

This was the evolution of female BB to be more feminized with the wearing of glammed out $1000 swimsuits, clear pageant heels, photoshoot ready hair/makeup, and posing without clenched fists. These ladies are typically what you will see as predominant fitness models on the covers of magazines and fronting fitness products. Physiques are still very tight, training is nothing short of a BBer but more focus on looking commercial.

Fitness Model.

Very similar to the Figure category but even more emphasis on having a mainstream look with a specific goal of being marketable. These ladies are more showy with model walks, themewear rounds in sportswear or costume, and points scored for personality and showmanship. A model look facially also will score points here. Abs are required.

Bikini.

This is what I called the Maxim or any men’s magazine pin up look. These ladies are in fantastic shape as well, they are lean, toned, tight but without significant muscle mass.



Bikini is usually the category that I compete in North America while in Europe I could also do Fitness Model and regional figure successfully. The Euro natural scene is a lighter aesthetic than North America; good for me, then I can eat more carbs! When I go to the States, I’m always amazed at the amount of muscle that the girls will carry… impressive yet intimidating if I’m competing against them.

5 Weeks out til the MuscleMania European Championships

Progress pic this morning. Stepped on the scale and happy to see the weight is continuing to move... a tight exercise, diet plan, and new supplementation mix based on feedback from my sponsor 247FitBody and WBFF Pro Rob Riches are really helping me out.

I will be competing in the Ms. Bikini and Model categories at the MuscleMania European Championships in Milan, then 6 weeks later I will go to Vegas for the Fitness America Pageant.

Competing in the MuscleMania European Championships 2009

Welcome to Musclemania Europe

I'll be in Milan from October 2-4 to compete in this show.  Very excited as last year I was the Italia Ms. Bikini.  Ready to rock that stage..!