Gym Ninja pootled off to the BodyPower Expo in Birmingham yesterday and met up with the very lovely Tara. Sadly JAG couldn't make it (her blog post explains why) so not quite the Three Musketeers as planned. :-(
HOW many disasters could strike in one day though? Firstly, Gym Ninja got a call on route to say her Grandfather had been taken into hospital (he is discharged now thank God), then a text from Tara saying she'd missed her train and that JAG couldn't make it....that was before GN even got to the NEC! Once parked, Gym Ninja merely had to follow the line of elite physique bodies like some sort of bionic race, to the exhibition hall. Oddly, running alongside the BodyPower Expo was a Mother/Baby expo....
Anyhow, GN finally made it. Then there followed a half hour of
"Where are you?"
"I'm Here!"
"So am I"
"I can't see you"
"I can't see you either"
Until FINALLY Tara & Gym Ninja met up. YAY!
On a tangent, Tara is entering FAME next weekend. Tis all very exciting and she looks in great shape. She also had some professional photos done yesterday too and let GN tell you, they are hawwt! Let us all hound her until she posts them on her blog ;-)
Anyway....into the show..........
It was wall-to-wall supplement suppliers plus various area where MMA, Boxing, wrestling etc was taking place. Gym Ninja & Tara began their mooch and within seconds were sampling some shots of protein. Most of the Suppliers had decanted their shakes into teeny (PAH!) shot glasses for people to try, and the first ones Tara and GN drank were by a company called Isopure (www.isopure.co.uk if you want to check it out). Tara & GN quaffed a shot of a bright blue clear fruity protein called Isopure Zero Carb which had 40g of protein and is bought by the bottle. AMAZING taste and yet at nearly £4 a bottle (1 serving!) it'd bankrupt most people.
Then it was over to MyProtein (www.myprotein.co.uk) to try some of their protein bars and shakes.
OMG! HOW nice was the shake? Especially the RTD stuff that tasted all yummy and nice. Tara & GN managed to sneak back a second time later in the day to quaff another thimble of one & also got a sachet to take away. Not sure what the quality is like but GN is always happy to try something & report back.
Talking of AMAZING tasting stuff, has anyone tried Muscle Milk by Cytosport? www.musclemilk.com This was GN's first time! Yes, the stuff is calorific. But the actual shakes taste fantastic, like milkshake. Possibly better for guys looking to build, however they do have a light option & GN was given 3 sachets of that to take away. The guys on that stand also handed out some dinky shot bottles called 'Muscle Milk Refuel' which have 5g of protein in them and are about the size of those dinky Total Energy shot drinks you can get. Gym Ninja and Tara got given 4 each..yummy! Can try those out on the run...
Now it got to half way through the exhibition stand & Gym Ninja and Tara must have tested a billion sliced up protein bars and shots of various proteins. Some nice, some icky. Of course just because something tastes great it doesn't necessarily mean it IS great, but it's always good to try these things out. That is until Gym Ninja started to feel all of the protein bars expand slowly in her stomach!
QUICK! Time for 'normal' food. This involved GN queueing for beef in a bun, but of course without the bun due to GN's wheat allergy.
OMG! HOW good is it to be around like-minded people? Normally when GN asks for something 'off menu' like a beef roll without the roll, then follows some sort of question/answer session between GN and the seller about why she doesn't want the bread. But at the BodyPower Expo when GN asked for no bread the seller said...
"OK"
That was IT! These people understand why someone may not want certain foods in their stomachs. Gym Ninja wants the world to be like this. To never have to explain ever again why she eats some things & not others...
Now whilst at the Expo, GN had to come up with an 'emergency' birthday present for her Brother-In-Law as it was his birthday the next day & having lost her job, Gym Ninja is somewhat broke. So the plan was to blag as many freebies as possible & make up some sort of 'fitness gift box' for him. The humungous Expo T Shirt given to GN as she arrived would be first in the box, but that wasn't enough so GN got a couple of copies of Muscle & Fitness for free too...oh and some supplement samples (but NOT all of them as GN wanted some too). But what else......that was not enough....quick! THINK! What else?
Then it came to Gym Ninja. All of a sudden, standing there in front of her was Enigma, the Gladiator! That's IT!
"Excuse me" Said Gym Ninja.
" It's my brother-in-laws birthday tomorrow & I've kind of not got him anything yet. Would you be able to do an autographed photo for him wishing him happy birthday at all?"
Enigma smiled (doesn't she look like Posh Spice BTW?) and picked up a photo and signed it for GN's brother-in-law.
EXCELLENT! He will love it!
"What's his name?" Said a voice, and Gym Ninja turned round to see another Gladiator DOOM, brandishing a pen and also signing a photo for GN's brother-in-law.
Hmmm. Gym Ninja thinks Doom didn't quite understand why her grown up brother-in-law may want a signed photo of a lycra-clad Enigma & not necessarily a similar shot of a muscular man.......however GN thanked him anyway and so now had two signed Gladiator photos for a man who was due to turn 42 years old...!!!!!
In fact GN and Tara did plenty of posing with muscly people during the show. It was great fun. A fantastic slimming aid too ladies...stand by a huge man and look dinky!
The most fun person GN posed with was by far IFBB Pro BodyBuilder Andy Haman working on the Dymatize Nutrition (www.dymatize.com) stand as one of their sponsored athletes. SUCH a funny guy and SO sweet to both Tara and Gym Ninja. More than happy to pose for photos, and GN 'means' pose! He pulled his vest up with his teeth exposing his amazing 6 pack (check on their website for his photo). Plus, he made GN look teeny tiny dinky by comparison as his arm must have been the thickness of GN's torso! When he did a signed phot he even said '<3 your hot bod!' to GN....which of course made her squeal in a girly fashion inside her own head even though she knew he was being cheesy!
Another great guy was Jason Barnett, another Body Builder who was in association with Udo's Choice Oils. That's the liquid EFAs. Anyhow, Tara already uses Udos and had gone to get ready for her photo shoot at this point so GN was happy to learn from Jason the many benefits of this amazing oil. After tasting a shot of it (yep, GN quaffed a shot glass of neat oil!) & hearing how it can help shed bodyfat and do amaxing things to the skin hair and nails (Jason said he now has nails like a girl they are that long!!!) Gym Ninja bought a bottle! Will report back on the findings........
After a fantastic day and having also had the privilege of watching Tara's photoshoot it was time to head home....with the bag of swag...
OK-it's taken Gym Ninja all evening to type this blog due to various 'distractions' (one of which being the fact that United Utilities cut off the water in the area with no warning leaving GN waterless!) so it's time to go.
More 'in-depth' info will follow as and when GN gets a tad less distracted ;-)
Gym Ninja x
