I lift and cycle so I can gorge on black brier berries... and other news.

The past two weeks have been full of ups and downs. I will try stick with the positives. I have many of them.

First off, Halifax VegFest is fast approaching! It is being held on September 20th at the Olympic Community Centre from 10am until 6pm. Gene Bauer, co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, will be giving a lecture. There will also be cooking demonstrations, booths by organizations and local businesses and lots of food. Even if you're not vegetarian or vegan, check it out because the food is going to be amazing! Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at EnVie, Wild Leek and Fruition or at the door. All proceeds go towards North Mountain Animal Sanctuary and Hope For Wildlife. I personally can't wait. I have heard Gene Bauer speak before and attended the sanctuary. He is inspirational.

http://www.hfxvegfest.com

Also, there will be a free screening of Speciesism: The Movie on September 30th. It starts at 7pm and is being held at the Museum of Natural History. Speciesism: The Movie is one of my favourite documentaries. It asks some really tough questions and tries so desperately and hilariously hard to prove that humans are meant to use animals. If you're free, come and expand your mind. Check out the Facebook event for more information.

For those of you who don't know me, I am 25 years old and I still don't have my drivers license. I am on my 4th learners permit. My boyfriend who I live with, Devin, is going away for work in October. If I don't get my license, it is going to be a pretty tough fall for me because my commute to and from work will increase by 2 hours. Last weekend, I went back to my hometown on the South Shore to take some driving lessons with a friend, who happens to be one of the people who inspired me to go vegan. He told me that with a few more lessons, I should be able to go for my road test. I am excited about that but also scared. Halifax driving is not fun. I have this fear of being rear-ended by impatient people in rush hour. If I do get my license, I may start getting up earlier and going to the gym near my work so I don't have to deal with as much traffic.

While I was home, my parents took Devin and I to visit the LaHave Islands.They had a cool museum filled with the artifacts and history of the people that lived on the islands. The best part was the berries. To my dad, finding berries is like finding gold. There is an abundance of black brier berries on the islands and I gorged myself on the berries I could find. They are so delicious! I am not ashamed because they were worth it.

Mmm free berries!

On the way back to Halifax, Devin and I stopped into Mahone Bay to check out Sweet Ride Cycling. Dev surprised me with a new old road bike the other week and I was very uncomfortable on it. We stopped in to pick up a stem. The man who helped us got me to bring in my bike and peddle on it using a trainer. He made a few recommendations on what we could do to make it more comfortable. I left with a new stem, shorter handlebars and some awesome purple grip tape. It turns out the man who helped us is a Master Fitter (which means he is an expert at fitting bikes? My bike knowledge is limited). The service we received was great. Check it out next time you're in the area. Even if you don't have a bike, they have retro candy.

My awesome new road bike. It's both badass
and terrifying to ride.

Lastly, I attended a barbecue Sunday night. Someone asked me what I must do to prepare for my next competition. So here's the quick version of what you have to do to be a bikini competitor:

I have a fitness coach. I am a client of Krissy Adams of Fit Starts Here. When I decided I wanted to compete, I had no idea how to do it. I chose Krissy because she's a registered dietitian and knows about vegan diets (she is a vegan too!). It is recommended that you hire a coach if you're thinking of competing. Krissy provides me with a workout plan and meal plan that is unique to me and my needs. She arranges posing practices and is there for help and support. If you're in pretty good shape, you can start prep about 3 months before the competition, but I recommend finding a coach before that. If you start prep earlier, it's less stressful on your body and you likely don't have to go to extremes like some competitors do like cutting calories and doing hours of cardio.

I lift heavy 4 times a week. Right now, I have a heavy leg day, high repetition leg day with abs, shoulders & triceps and back & biceps. The amount of cardio I do varies. Right now, I am expected to do at least 30 minutes a day because Krissy wants me to come in leaner for competition. I also attend posing practice once a week. Practices become more frequent as the show date gets closer and I am expected to practice at home. At posing practice, we work on our front and back poses, stage presence and walking in our heels.

For competition, I have already purchased a suit and heels as well as booked my hair, make-up and spray tan.When the competition date arrives, I will be dehydrated and cranky. My tan is booked the evening before. I will likely be up at the wee hours of the morning getting hair and make-up done. I have to strut my stuff sometime after 9am and again at 7pm. Then I will drink a liter of coconut water, eat my heart out and cry at the fact that it's all over.

That's all for this post. I realized that I have a lot to talk about. I'm hoping to talk about some more serious issues later on. Last week, I was told by an old friend of mine that I am "holier-than-thou" and because I am on a moral high ground, I shouldn't talk about veganism. That hurt me a lot. I am still pretty emotional and I am trying my hardest to understand what this person said and what he really meant by it. It's a sensitive topic for sure and I would like to address it more in depth at some point.

Have a great weekend!