Mum's the word on competing

Hi, I'm Tarsh, I run my own PT business, I teach spin class, I have a husband, 2 children 3yrs and 1yr and I'm a figure contestant.

To say that I have a busy life might be a slight understatement, I fit my clients round my children, my training round my clients and somehow it all works out in the end, the other day I had to do my cardio on the trampoline with my 3yr old and right now I'm writing this while making dinner for tonight (its 9.30am).

Putting my 1yr old to bed and trying to organise/cater/decorate my 3yr olds Angelina Ballerina pink princess party that's in 5 days. EKK!

Being a mum of young kids does NOT mean you can't compete, if you have the passion for it you can adapt your life to fit your new found goals.

You can train when the kids are asleep if they still have day naps or at night, if you are determined you can make it work, spin bikes look great in bedrooms and toddlers love it when mum spends ages jumping on the trampoline or playing chase- all awesome forms of cardio, have you ever tried playing on kids playground equipment?

Doing chin ups on monkey bars? It's a lot harder than it looks.

Adapting meals to suit your competition diet is also easy when you have things planned out, I rarely make 2 separate meals and I'm the world's laziest cook, really!!

In this day an age of fast food you can use it to your advantage there are a ton of 'fast' products that can have you eating in 20minutes or less and don't tell me your kids won't eat healthy food- Kids will follow where you lead, and so will husbands, ha-ha.

In my house you will find at all times pre-made salads/broccoslaw and prewashed greens- (told you I was lazy) heaps of veggies that can be eaten without cooking, 2min basmati rice, wraps and pita breads. I keep my freezer filled with stir fry meats, steaks, chicken breasts, turkey burger patties
and venison mince its 96% fat free and a no one can tell the difference.

You're the mum- you do the shopping, cooking, organising so plan ahead, sit down the night before you do the shopping and plan what meals to cook and adaptions you need to make for your goals.

You can easily adapt meals to suit the whole family- I make homemade chicken nuggets for my children made with spinach and wholemeal breadcrumbs, Hubby gets a dad sized chicken breast and I leave off the crumbs from mine-all baked the same way and all with the same sides.

|If my family want sausages, I bake myself a piece of fish- same cooking method and the same sides.

And takeaways?? You certainly don't need them and neither does your family but if you want them then make chicken burgers and leave off the burger bun for you.

It's easy you just need to adapt and organise your time and when something happens that might set you back or take you off track, you have to look on the bright side, pat yourself on the back for keeping it together 95% of the time and get back to the plan.

Natasha Guy
May 2012

Natasha is a Personal Trainer based in Dunedin and she is currently training to compete in a figure show!

Find out more about Tarsh at www.balanceforlife.co.nz

• Catch fitness best personal trainer 2008,
• Fitnesslife Up and coming personal trainer (SI) runner up 2008
• Fitnesslife up and coming personal trainer (SI) winner 2009
• February/March NZ fitness magazines personal trainer of the month 2010
• September 2010 competed in IFBB South Island Champs

Mum's the word on competing

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