I’ve had the opportunity to work with Jakob from Danish Apple Photography again and he managed to impress me even more than the first time we worked together. He is one very talented photographer and I enjoy his work a lot. I’m still waiting for the other pictures to be edited and sent to me but here’s one from the shoot – that I have edited a little bit myself, hope you will like it 😉

He already has other ideas for our next shoot so watch this space!

Things this year has not been going as well as I planned. Last year I had a very strong finish, competitions, guest spot, changing jobs etc and everything went well – or at least I was positive enough to see the good things in all that was happening, even if they didn’t happen as I wanted them to . But as soon as 2013 arrived things have changed considerably. You know that feeling when your luck just turns around and whatever you do nothing works out the way you want it, or even close to it. Little bit disappointing, little bit demotivating in certain aspects, but you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep going.

In 2013 I thought I’d change federations. I started competing in UKBFF in 2011, then moved to NAC in 2012 and I thought in 2013 I could start and make my way towards a pro card. I have had to make some very tough decisions regarding that as it can be very time consuming and very demotivating as well. We all know that this federation I’m talking about is not famous for its ‘fair’ judging, more like how long you have been around and whether you mix in the right circles.

When I first made a decision about competing my main aim was becoming pro. It was more like a personal goal, as we all know that pro female bodybuilding doesn’t really produce more income, none of the Olympia competitiors have a sponsorship and it costs you more money than what you can actually earn from it. But when it comes to a personal achievement, you set your goals and if you want it bad enough, you go for them.
This is what I’ve done: made a hard decision after my last competition in 2012, that if I ever want to become pro I will have to switch federations.
Knowing the situation here in the UK with this federation I thought I could never really stand a proper chance to get to the level I want to be so being a dual citizen has given me more options. Planning started in January, checking out what qualifiers and competitions I need to do to achieve my goal, what a realistic timeframe would be, when to start dieting etc. So you make the decisions, make a few phonecalls to see if it’s all good to go before you start the prep.

First of all I was told I’d have to pay 500 euros penalty. Penalty? What have I done? I’m a british and world champion athlete wishing to compete with a different federation! Well, if I wanted to switch federations I’d have to pay a penalty – I was told. Don’t really understand the reasoning behind it as I have never competed in that country, or with that particular federation so it’s not the case of going back to them, but actually starting to compete with them. Oh well, the rules are the rules, if you want to compete you have to oblige. So I thought 500 euros is a lot of money, but not the end of the world, just means to the end and to get my end result. So started dieting – again, but unfortunately my body seemed to have a different agenda. Last year was a very probing year for me with staying lean and constant dieting almost all year around and my body told me it needed a bit more time to recover. So after a few weeks of dieting and not getting anywhere I made a decision not to compete in April as it would’ve been very unhealthy to force my weight down to the level it should’ve been to be able to stand on stage and qualify.

Another phonecall to the president of this federation in that particular country to tell him I couldn’t do that qualifier. He told me the last qualifier for the Worlds that’s in September is in June, so if I wanted to compete at the worlds I’d have to qualify in June, otherwise i’ll miss it.
No problem, few weeks off, carbing up, eating and stepping up training. In April I started dieting again. I experienced the same problem again – my weight just wouldn’t shift below a certain level. Research, phonecalls, chats until I found something that went straight against the grain but it gave my body the necessary shock to start losing weight again. So a week before the competition, when I could tell that i’m going to reach the target weight to compete I made another phonecall to the president of this particular federation who told me that most probably I can’t compete at the worlds because that is drug tested and if i’m not completely clean I’d fail the test. I was a bit surprised because we discussed this back in January and March and we’ve been preparing for this competition and this test since I started dieting in January, making sure that I wouldn’t fail on the test. Well this gentleman was very positive that I’d fail the test anyway so there’s no point in doing the competition next weekend. I got very disappointed and stressed out especially after all that i’ve been through to get my weight down and get ready, and NOW he’s telling me that I can’t do it. I asked him if there’s any chance I could still go and coompete as I’m almost 100% sure (you can never be 100% sure) that I’d not fail the test. He informed me casually that the only way he’s willing to risk it is if I bring 2000 euros with me next weekend, that’s the penalty if I fail the test in September. Question: why do I have to pay it 3 months in advance, even if he’s sure I will not pass the test why can I not just bring it with me in September in case we have to pay it? Would I see that money again if I didn’t get tested or passed the test in September? And is it worth risking?

What has been happening with pro female bodybuilding recently I have second thoughts now that it’s worth going for the pro card and especially when it costs you £2500 just to be part of a federation, and that doesn’t include your costs of getting ready for the competitions, the bikini, the flights and hotel etc. And chances are, by the time I get the pro card there’s not gonna be any pro shows for female bodybuilding to compete at…

I think it was very good timing for me to open my eyes with all this happening. I do believe that everything happens for a reason!
And off season has started again 🙂

I’m sure many of you have already seen the news that the 2014 Arnold’s Classic will not have Pro Female Bodybuilding class because they’ve introduced the 212 class for men.

I find it very sad that there’s yet another area where men get more acknowledgement than women. Women work just as hard in everyday life, in their jobs, as a partner/wife/mum, or as a fitness/bodybuilding competitor in the gym but instead of giving support, even more is taken away.

Female bodybuilding competitors earn less reward money at competitions and have less sponsorships than men bodybuilders, if they have any at all. And now they’re taking away one of the most prestigious competitions of the year for Female Bodybuilding!

I know that many of you guys are inspired by female bodybuilders, not only the effort that we put into our physiques but also the passion and the lifestyle that comes with it.

There’s a petition that I’d like you to have a look at and sign if you feel this is unfair on us. You can find the petition here:

https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/international-federation-of-bodybuilding-fitness-ifbb-save-the-ms-international-womens-bodybuilding-competition?utm_campaign=share_button_action_box&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition

Also please share it with others so that more and more people can sign it and hopefully we can do something against this unfair decision.

Thank you for your support!

This post is gonna be something completely different and unrelated to my other posts but I feel shocked by the number of people pretending to be someone else. I get a lot of friend requests on Facebook nowadays, and I have no problems with adding fans and friends, even talk to them when I have the time. But I don’t understand why some of them try and pretend to be another bodybuilder just to think I will talk to them. It only takes a reverse image search in Google and the original picture will come up showing who the person on the picture really is. So let’s not waste each other’s time guys, just be yourself.

Ok, it was just something I had to get off my chest 🙂

Had a photoshoot for the Tango soft drink Point of Sale material on Wednesday with the spectacular and huge Alvin Small and Haroldas Dambrauskas. Here are a few pics from the shoot, enjoy!

Hello guys,

Sorry I have been very quiet in the last few months but there have been a lot going on.
Where to start?

I’ve gone through a bad patch starting in January. Nothing wanted to work out as I expected it. First of all we had the ‘plan’ for 2013 to compete and the first competition should have been in about a week’s time, but unfortunately last year’s competitions and the endless months and months of dieting took their toll. We started dieting in January but my body just didn’t respond to it anymore. Carried on for a few weeks just to see if we could trick my body, changed things around but it didn’t work out. Well, no biggie, it doesn’t mean i’m not going to compete, it just got postponed a bit so that I can give my body a little bit of rest, refeed it so that next time the diet could go the way it should.

I had a TV appearance at the Alan Titchmarsh Show in March which was a bit of a surprise but we had a lot of fun there! The TV show was supposed to promote the upcoming UKBFF qualifier for the IFBB Worlds and they wanted to show the audience what the different classes are for women at a competition. Therefore they invited a bikini girl (Georgia Simmons), a fitness girl (Maria Scotland) and a bodybuilder (myself). Strangely the competition was not even mentioned and we ended up showing different exercises to the audience that they can do at home to improve their physiques. It was all just for the show as the dreaded ‘D’ word (D for diet) was not mentioned even once and as we know that’s the most imperative part of sculpting your physique. Here are a few snapshots from the show:

After this TV show we had a photoshoot at Monster gym for an article in Flex Magazine, not sure which issue it is gonna be in though so please keep checking. Here are 2 pics from the shoot:

A week later I had another photoshoot with Rebecca Andrews which was a very interesting shoot with other fitness and bikini girls in the Mad Hatter/Alice in Wonderland theme. The make up/hair and the costumes of the main characters were absolutely stunning. I was one of the rabbits, we wore a black bikini and a rabbit mask:

My fans would probably be happy to know that finally I’ve made a website for them! Pictures and videos that have never been published anywhere else, regular updates on it as well and a special members area for those who would like to support me! Come and have a look and let me know what you think!
Tamara Makar Female Muscle

Well, I know I’ve been very quiet lately and I apologize for that! It’s been a very busy year and I thought I’d write a longer post and reflect on 2012, what happened, the joy and what could’ve been better…
It’s been a very long and tough year. I’ve had 4 competitions and a guest spot, I guess it’s not too bad for the first year competing – or is it a bit longer now than that? Just a little bit, I started in September 2011.

I’m really grateful that I’ve made some friends this year, mainly from the sport which is quite rare. Unfortunately people get a bit jealous in this sport and it’s very difficult to form real friendships. I have some lovely supporters from the gyms I train at and I really appreciate their support. And last but not least all of my fans all over the world, thank you for your ongoing support, your encouraging e-mails and checking on me every now and again. I do my best to reply to all the messages I receive, either on here, on Facebook or on Twitter. Sometimes it might be take me some time to reply, but I will always get back to you guys. Just please don’t send me a one liner, like ‘hello’ because that’s not much of a conversation, is it? If you have something to say, say it, I’m more than happy to hear from you!

I was dieting most part of this year, about 10 months altogether. I get a lot of questions about my diet, so let me tell you a little bit about it then. When I diet I have 7-8 meals a day, all of them are with turkey and 3 of them are with carbs so you can understand when I get a bit snappy or impatient, especially towards the end of the diet. I hope I didn’t offend anyone during that period, if I did I apologize. I try and be very careful but I guess it’s not easy. You’re in a completely different state of mind. Once a week I have a high carb day when I go out for a steak, I think I’ve posted enough pictures from my steaks on Twitter/Facebook 🙂

With Neil in Hamburg, the night before the NAC Universe

I’m still experimenting with food and the best time to do it is off season. I want to bring a lot better package on stage next year.

I haven’t reflected on the NAC Universe yet, I know. Unfortunately I haven’t placed on that competition and if you look at the pictures you can see why. I didn’t manage to bring my best form, I didn’t fill up enough and I was too dehydrated which unfortunately cost me a placing.

As many of you probably know I entered the couples class at the Universe as well with a great hungarian bodybuilder, Istvan Jenei. I think we looked pretty good next to each other!  Watch out for him/us because we will most probably repeat it next year!

I am not too disappointed though as this year I’ve won the NAC British and the NAC Worlds. All in all it was a great year in my competitions and I’ve learned a lot about my physique and my contest prep. My coach IFBB Pro Harold Marillier helped me a lot along the way and he’ll help me in 2013 as well, although I will do most of the work by myself now.

I am off season now and I’m not planning on standing on stage again until towards the end of 2013. I’m trying to keep this off season as lean as possible but with maximising the gains.  I will have a look at the competition calendar for 2013 and make a decision at the beginning of the year so that I have a goal to work towards. Which federation am I gonna be doing next year? Well, that’s a bit unclear just yet but they might include some IFBB competitions, but not UKBFF.

I think I’ve had a successful rebound after my last competitions. I’ve spend the last 4 weeks in the gym training hard to put on as much size as possible – as this is the best time to do that, when you finish dieting and your body absorbs and utilises all the food you put into it.

I’ve had a few days off over Christmas, my body really needed it. I felt completely exhausted. I only had 1 week off this year, after winning the worlds and before I started dieting for the Brits and the Universe. I will be back in the gym later on this week once I feel rested enough to give it 100% again.

Please keep the lovely messages coming because it’s great to know that you guys are following me! I will post a lot more from now on and I will update my YouTube channel as well – unfortunately i didn’t have anyone to help me with the recordings recently.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy and healthy New Year in 2013!

NAC British Finals on the 4th November 2012 at Middleton Arena, Manchester.
I had a great and very long day in Manchester. The show started at 4 pm so I had enough time to go out and have a lovely steak in the local Harvester.
There were some familiar faces, it was lovely to catch up with guys and girls from the south qualifier in Aldershot.
The day started quite late therefore it finished very late, too. It was 9 pm when we got the results and I had to wait until the end of the show to take a picture with all the other class winners so eventually it was 10 pm by the time we left. Not a lot was open on Sunday in Manchester after 10 pm as you can imagine and I refused to have Dominos pizza 🙂 We ended up having a sandwich at a Shell petrol station – that’s about the after comp meal… It was still nice as I hadn’t had bread for like 13 weeks…

The prep is still going on for the Universe on the 24th November in Hamburg, Germany. 1 more week to go, it’s getting very exciting now as the last week is always the time when you shape up and you see the changes. With all the cardio and training and the diet it is a very challenging and tiring period for me. Thank you all the messages and support from all my friends and fans on here and on Facebook and apologies that I can’t get back to you all. Your messages are much appreciated and I will be in touch again once I’m back from Germany.

Have a lovely weekend everyone and check out the pictures from the NAC British Finals in the picture gallery!

I flew out to Hungary on Thursday, the 11th October and got there quite late at night. One of my friends, Joe was waiting for me at the airport patiently – the luggages didn’t come out for about an hour or so, and by the time we got to the hotel it was very late.

There was a fitness centre in the hotel that made it easier for me to do my morning cv. Friday midday I walked down to Vida Fitness – it was a 40 mins walk from the hotel and the weather was lovely anyway. Zoltan Vida – the organizer and the president of NAC Hungary was waiting for me in his gym to meet me and have a chat about the competition. He said he didn’t believe I’d make the trip until he saw me in the gym 🙂 The gym was very well equipped, I was surprised to see 2 StairMasters as well! Good machines, enough weights and dumbbells, and a lot of great athletes in the gym! This is the place to train at!

Saturday morning I went to one of my friends’ place to cook my food for the rest of my stay. He lives in Buda with a lovely view to the city.

We met up with my best friend in a shopping mall and had a nice cup of coffee. It was good to see him, we don’t get to see each other very often.

Saturday evening we went out to an Argentinian Steakhouse to have a steak – I can easily say it was the best steak I’ve ever had!

Sunday was a long day. The competition started in the morning with the novice classes. My first guest spot was around 12 pm. I enjoyed it a lot as this was my first guest spot ever. Zoltan, the organizer made sure everyone knew who I was 🙂

People were very friendly and welcoming.  A huge steak was ordered for me after my first guest spot – it took me 4 sittings to eat it all, but I managed by the evening 🙂

I had a second appearance around 3 pm again. I felt the routine was more flowing for the second time.

The competition finished around 8 pm and there was an afterparty with some food – rice and meat and cakes.

Monday morning I went back to the gym, where we took some more workout pictures, they will be on the event’s website soon and I will post the link for them.

It was a great experience with lovely memories. I flew back to London Monday evening and finally I could get some rest. It was nice to go away for a few days, meet my family and make new friends who I will meet in Hamburg at the Universe, but it was also nice to come back home and get back to ‘normal’.

The video of my routine will be uploaded soon and I will post it on here, too! Check back soon!