What a year!

Welcome to 2012!
I hope you all bought in the new year with good spirits and the family and friends you love. What a whirlwind 2011 has been for me! It has shot right past. I have completed another year of my teaching degree with top marks, I've met an incredible amount of amazing new people, spent memorable days and nights with the besties and got back into contact with the good oldies. I had a few 'lust' interests, went to 2 music festivals, countless dress up parties, clubbing adventures, I ran a 14km charity run in 1:22 hours, traveled to Bali, I got my nutrition in check, got a new job at Fitness First, baked countless cupcakes, coached basketball to kids, and began lifting and preparing myself for my first sports modeling competition. Most of all 2011 has taught me so much about myself. I have grown as a person enormously, and feel I have a better sense of who I really am, what I want from life and the tools and tactics I can utilise to get myself there. 2011 has been a year of inspiration and self discovery, and I have come out the end of it gloriously happy, healthy, fit and determined to accomplish anything I want from my life. 
I brought in 2012 dressed as a surf lifesaver, partying it up (sober) with my incredibly beautiful (inside and out) best friend Shauni, a good bunch of friends, lots of dancing, music, a whole lotta sand (yes we built sandcastles :)), and of course a new years eve kiss (from a boy and my bestie). I was so happy to spend the night with a massive grin on my face, shakin' my booty, with a care free and life loving attitude, a complete 360 from how my last new years eve panned out! I'm so proud of all of the things I have accomplished during this year, and how excited and determined I am to go into this new year with my head held high, my spirits even higher, my goals set out, and the dedication to make it all happen.
I have started a new diet plan today, my calories have been reduced to 1,500 per day, as well as my carbohydrate intake lowered and protein increased. More cardio has also been added into my workout routine with a 30min jog every morning on waking. I am also completing high intensity max of 20 mins cardio after my weights training. This approach should start to lean my body up in preperation for comp, which is now 10 weeks away! My bikini pool photoshoot with Dana Carmont Bikinis and photographer Nicole Miller, is now just 3 weeks away! I am so excited to see just how much I can transform my body in these 3 short weeks, and present everything I've got, hopefully walking away with photographs I can be very proud of.

I am also beginning posing classes this Friday :) I am attending Move Fitness Specialists, where I will first attend a 1 on 1 session, where I will learn how to pose to most effectively show of my body and muscle composition. Then a weekly group class, where we will practice walking, posing and prepping our stage presence. I am so excited to be meeting more like-minded girls, and share our training, diet and inspirational stories! Posing sounds easy, but is so vital to the way you will be judged on stage, you may have a kick ass physique, but if you can't show it off properly, then you're not going to win, not to mention tensing every muscle in your body for long periods of time is a work out in itself! I want to do everything I can to score as highly as I possibly can, a place would be a dream come true, but I will be ecstatic with just being able to stand on that stage and show off all that I have accomplished.

Bring on everything 2012 has to offer me, as I will take every situation and turn it in to an opportunity to bring myself closer to my goals. My positivity is at an all time high, life is so incredibly amazing, and I can't wait to spend another memorable year with all of the incredible people in my life! I love you all and thank you for helping make 2011 so unforgettable! Bring on 2012! <3 Rach