It’s been a rocky road, very rocky….. This year has been full of obstacles, one after the other, seemed like it just wouldn’t stop (and it still hasn’t).

This year has taught me a lesson and showed me who my real friends are, who I could count on unconditionally.

My preparation for the Ms Universe was probably my toughest contest prep. Staying in a reasonable shape all year around, with only 3-4 weeks off diet here and there resulted in a mild metabolic damage that made my dieting for this contest a living hell.

I planned on doing 3 competitions in November but my weight just didn’t want to shape up. The weight loss started off well but at 75 kg it stopped and wouldn’t move whatever I tried: increased cardio, dropped calories, went on 0 carbs… nothing. My coach couldn’t advise anything so I asked for help from a nutritionist friend of mine (Athletic Nutrition) Paul Burgess who talked about different diets and helped me with them as well, but with no big changes in my physique or condition unfortunately. Because I have already booked my flight for a competition in Hungary I thought I might as well just go and see how it goes. This competition was the WBPF Hungarian Championships that was a qualifier for the WBPF World Championships a week later. As my condition was really off I didn’t expect anything to happen and obviously I didn’t place well but nevertheless it was a lovely experience with another great federation.

But this trip also showed me who were with me and not against me. I met again Zoltan Vida, who is the owner of Vida Fitness in Budapest and also the president of the Hungarian NAC. He pointed me into the right direction, explained me how they do their prep in Hungary and helped me with mine. The transformation in 3 weeks was unbelievable. Not only I managed to get on stage at the Universe but I brought my best package ever in my opinion.

Unfortunately the competition in Hamburg didn’t go as we planned. Even though I had a good package, it didn’t seem to be enough to get into the top 6. The results were a bit shocking to me – and apparently to others, too, but I am not a judge, and now I’m not even sure what they’re looking for.

After the competition when I came off stage I was told by one of the judges that: ‘You need to go back and train! You haven’t improved anything since I last saw you a year ago!’ hmmmmm…. that’s a bit harsh, or is it just me? This wasn’t the first time this person talked to me like this and  I think it’s time I stopped taking this bullshit from anyone because neither him, nor anybody else has the rights to say something like that. I’ve worked my ass off this year, struggled with a lot of other things but training has always been my priority. Most of the year I was actually training 2x a day (and NO, it wasn’t cardio in the morning and weights in the evening, but 2 actual weight sessions). Anyway, moving on and looking forward instead of backwards.

I’m glad this season is over now, I need to focus on other things. First of all need to improve my personal training business and now that I’m definitely not competing in the next 6-7 months I will have the mental capacity to focus on more clients. My metabolism will need at least that much time to recover – and after that we will see…. It was a disappointing year in more than one ways. But as Confucius said:

‘Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.’

Pictures from the contest can be found in my picture gallery.