Starting a New Season...

It's been a while since i've written or posted on here... I had a productive but mentally tough off-season. Having to watch my body transform before my eyes has been very difficult. The food on my meal plan tasted great and i was not experiencing mood swings and such but the added carbs, decrease in cardio combined with the holiday season led to some unnecessary weight gain :(

Luckily i am getting back on track, my diet has changed again and i'm doing more cardio, so slowly but surely the results are starting to show. Some of my goals this past off-season were to work on building a wider back and adding mass to my shoulders. I am quite pleased at how that went, and im hoping to keep as much size in my upper body while dieting down for my next show!
It's just a matter of time and patience now, these are things I have to work on. I love going to the gym, weight training and even cardio with good music isn't all that bad. My main thing is not letting my negative thoughts control me and ruin my moods. I have to step away from the mirror and leave the scale alone for once, and enjoy my training and try to make the best of things. I know from talking to other fitness/figure/bodybuilding competitors that the beginning stages after coming off from an off-season phase can be mentally challenging. At this point I want to take things one day at a time and not get ahead of myself. Mood swings and ups/downs will always be there but the one thing i can control is my thoughts. I'm hoping to find a more positive attitude and have fun with this journey:))) My next show is the Canada Naturals on April 23 in Quebec! I've started my food journal, tracking my workouts/food intake and I'll be updating my progress via video/journal posts on here, stay tuned ;)




xo






Alex L.

LET THE OFF-SEASON BEGIN!

By: Alex Liska
So, the time has finally arrived to take a break from the intense dieting and twice a day cardio sessions!!! After a long, strenuous year of dieting (since December 2009) I am slowly switching into my off-season mode. I will, however continue to eat clean but of course incorporate different foods and experiment with nutrient ratios!
Although I feel this year has gone really well and I am pleased with the progress I have made, it took me some time to accept that I will not be shredded all year round. After having spent so much time focusing on getting super lean it is sort of shocking to "relax" and let my body heal... Psychologically, it has been hard for me to accept the changes in my physique, the few extra pounds gained since my last show and looking "softer" is something that I'll have to adjust to. However, everyone that competes or trains really hard knows that the off-season is the time where we make the most gains and build up all that muscle that is much needed! Our bodies need a chance to recover from the insane workouts (especially the killer 2-a-day cardio sessions and "no rest between sets" weights workouts). After all, muscles grow by feeding them proper foods/vitamins/minerals and allowing them to rest and recover! I hope that now I will have a chance to focus on my personal training/nutrition clients and also write more fitness articles and try out new recipes that I can share with you all:) I'm so excited to get back into "healthy-chef-mode" and start baking my cocoa protein bars/brownies/cakes/cookies and try out new high-protein dishes! I love baking and cooking so I am looking forward to the extra time I will have in the kitchen (and not having to pack so much Tupperware...LOL)
I know that I will still experience mood fluctuations from time to time when I look back at my stage/dieting phase photos and see that I look a bit different now but I know it's a good investment to take this time off to focus on the next season to come, and build up a great foundation so that I can reveal a whole new and improved physique on stage in 2011!!! GO FIGURE!!! :):):)



That was a little video clip of my "Off-Season" posing practice! I'll continue to practice my posing and hopefully improve on that too! :)

xo,

-Alex L. :)