MISS ZAG TOP 6 UPDATE

For those of you that don’t know yet, I have made it to the Top 6 of Miss Zag. I am still in shock and am so excited that I have gotten this far in this journey of mine. 

 

This has been an ongoing competition for the past four months or so, and all of the girls are exhausted. We have been constantly asking for votes, likes, comments, etc. But, for the top 6 it has all paid off because we get to shoot the Zigzag calendar for 2014. The girls from out of Cape Town fly in on the 6th of December, and we shoot from the 6th – 8th. It will be mind blowing. (So don’t forget to buy your Zigzag magazine at the end of December/start of January to get your calendar for 2014.) 😉

 

I have worked my BUTT off to get this far, and it is so rewarding to be apart of this years Top 6, but the winner still needs to be crowned. It is extremely tough competition this year as all of these girls are incredibly stunning and all match what Miss Zag is looking for to the T! I do, however, really need every single vote, every tweet and every comment I can possibly get. So if you would be able to help me out by doing one, two or ALL of the above, I would really appreciate it. The winner is announced on the 11th of December and I am beyond nervous and excited.

The prizes are: 

One of these finalists will then win the coveted title of Miss Zag, along with an *all expenses paid trip to Mauritius for two, made possible by All Aboard Surf Travel – including 7 nights, flights from JHB and standard airport transfers, plus loads of amazing loot from Rip Curl and Reef Brazil and the opportunity to be selected for a modelling contract from Boss Models.

Oh, and we’re throwing in a quiver of new surfboards for the winner too, just for good measure.

 

So, let’s just say that the prizes are life changing. Seriously massive! 

Now, this is what you can do to help: So our top 6 finalists will be shooting the 2014 online calendar in Cape Town on the 7 December. Send them some love by tweeting @MissZag with your message followed by #Misszag2014calendar … or, leave them a message here! The Miss Zag 2013 winner will be announced on the 11 December, so stay tuned. Exciting times!

Here are the links: 

You can comment my name anywhere here: https://www.facebook.com/zigzagmisszag
You can vote for me here: http://miss.zigzag.co.za/profile/LisaHarrison
OR
You can tweet me a message with: @lisasarah1 @misszag followed by #Misszag2014calendar

Thank you for all of the support so far. You have all helped me get this far and I truly appreciate it. You can read my Top 6 interview along with the rest of the Top 6 here: http://www.zigzag.co.za/featured/the-calender-girls-miss-zag-top-6/

You’re amazing. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Fingers Crossed ❤

Top 10 Miss Zag – What the competition means to me!

Many people have asked me about this Miss Zag competition. I’m not surprised why! Over the past 4 months I have been posting non-stop statuses asking you to vote for me, to support me, to comment on things, to like things. I’ve been inboxing you, wallposting you..and absolutely harassing you. All of you. Truth is, that seems to be the only way that these competitions work these days.
At first, I know people were hesitant to vote, and it was such a mission for people to stop what they were doing in their busy life to gave to vote for something they ‘aren’t part of’. But, eventually I learnt that just simply posting statuses on my wall had far more of an effect. There are some people that literally just scrolled over to my profile every time it crossed their mind to vote for me without me even having to say anything.

In the start, my votes went up excrutiatingly slowly! Snail pace. But over time, within a day sometime, my votes went up by over 50-100 votes. I wish you all knew just how much it meant to me! The butterflies that flew around my stomach numerous times when logging onto my profile and seeing all of the love and support through all of the votes. I don’t think I will ever know who all voted, how many times, and who did what..but at the end of the day, each and every one of you who voted for me, no matter how many times, has played such a gigantic role in this competition for me.

Although the prize is MASSIVE for the winner – a ‘sponsor’ by RipCurl and Reef Brazil, surf boards, surf attire, a contract with Boss Models, and a trip for two (ALL INCLUSIVE) holiday for two in Mauritius as well as shooting the Zigzag 2014 calender with the rest of the Top 6 which is just absolutely mind blowing.. this competition has meant so much more to me than just the overall prize. To me, I have already won. And, I do not mean that in the way you think I do.. Let me explain. Last year, I entered. I didn’t make top 10. This year I have already beaten myself. I have accomplished what I didn’t manage to accomplish last year. If I don’t make it to Top 6.. It isn’t the end of the World. Because I am already one step further than what I was. And being apart of Top 10 has already proved to me that I am capable of fulfilling my dreams, pushing myself, and really becoming a great ambassador to a brand that may need me someday.

Of course, tomorrow is the BIG DAY, where the Top 6 will be announced, and possibly even the WINNER of Miss Zag 2013. But, we are all winners so far. Each and every beautiful lady who entered put in so much effort, so much passion and really pushed themselves to their own limits. Lots of excitement is flying around South Africa right now. This year, what a lovely, beautiful group of contestants. Although, it is a contest, and we all kind of secluded ourselves from eachother, I am sure that once the Top 6 has been chosen, we or they will all finally get a chance to get to know eachother, have fun shooting the Zigzag calender- lots of giggles, laughs and memories of each individual journey these past few months.
Good luck to every one of the beautiful girls in the Top 10. We all deserve to win. Fingers Crossed.

Until tomorrow… x

PS A massive thank you to all of the photographers, stylists, designers, makeup artists and supporters ! Without you all, this would have been impossible.

 

Life is too short!

We were all brought into this world for a reason.
We all have different purposes to fulfill.
We all have our dreams. We all have goals.

There’s something similar about all of us.
When we were just little kids-we all knew what we wanted to become when we were big.
But the difference is that some of us changed our minds, and took longer to find ourselves than others.

Life-what a beautiful thing.
So precious. So fragile.
It’s the one thing we aren’t in control of.
The only thing we can be sure of, is making sure we live, and that we make every second count.

We can’t live in regret of the things we wish we had or hadn’t done.
We can’t live in a World of blame and hatred.
We can’t live in a World of selfishness and denial.
We can’t live in a World of negativity.

Life is too short.
We don’t have time for that.
Life is about accomplishing your dreams.
Building friendships.
Life is about family.
Life is about fulfilling your purpose on Earth.

Although some of us are taken before what we believe is our time.
Selfishly, it humbles those left behind.
We learn to appreciate what we have. Those by our side.
We learn to cherish those moments that could so easily be taken away from us in a blink.
We learn that what we define as sacrifices, are really just acts of kindness.

People come into this World just as quickly as they leave this World.
It really is frightening.
Time.
Everybody has a different clock that their life follows.

We need to learn to appreciate life and those apart of it.
There’s no time for ugliness, jealousy, and selfishness.
There’s no time for gossip, backstabbing and bitchiness.
There’s no time to dislike someone, or to plan defeat to someone who has wronged you.

Life is beautiful.
Make the most of it.

Adriano Pulinckx – you have inspired me. What a great friend you were to many! You were loved more than you ever knew. What a wonderful heart of gold you had! Your life taken so young. Too soon. But, you left your mark on all those left behind. And, someday we will all meet again. In Heaven. Right now, you’re looking down from above and smiling, knowing how many people you touched from your time on Earth. You are missed. You are loved. Although many are heart broken and so hurt right now because of what has happened. One day there will be closure in our hearts knowing that you are in a better place. Thank you for humbling us all by touching each and every one of our lives in your own unique way. We will never forget you!

Beautiful soul.

Sleek Girls has changed my life!

A dear friend of mine introduced me to Sleek Girls for the very first time a month and 14 days ago. I didn’t understand how a bunch of women could possibly help me change my life. So, very skeptically, I asked her to invite me to the group so I could get a bit of insight. Earlier that day, she had changed our coffee date to a hike up Lion’s Head. That was when I realized just how badly I needed to get fit, change my eating habits and get into shape!

That evening, I started scrolling through the Sleek Girls page. Two hours later, I looked at my watch and realized how long I had been reading through all of the posts written by women who needed support, women who typed out posts to inspire others, I was looking at progress photos, I was reading recipes, and had uncountable websites open that ladies had posted to help others. I was hooked.

That Sunday my boyfriend and I were house sitting for his Mom, and I decided to build up the courage to take my before photos. I knew once I had done this, as difficult as it was, it meant that my Day 1 had started. I needed this. It was excruciating looking at myself in those photos, knowing that I had let my body spiral out of control the way I had. But, I knew I had hope. I feel emotional even thinking back to this right now.

My problem was that I had always been extremely athletic and fit growing up. I was a dancer for 16 years. I was an amazing runner and swimmer and did numerous different sports after school as well as surfing every chance I got. I went away for awhile after moving away from home, and couldn’t afford to pay for my dancing lessons any longer. I was staying months in St Francis, and then a few weeks back home, but while I was there I was eating well, and keeping fit by staying active, and focused with my exercising and surfing and healthy eating.

I dropped out of my studies, and became extremely lazy. I moved in with my wonderful boyfriend, and was on my own during the day. That was where it all went downhill for me. I ate whatever I pleased. I stopped exercising, quite frankly, I just stopped caring. I can’t believe it actually took this long for me to realize what was happening with my body.

I was diagnosed with PCOS the year I finished school, and for my body to overcome this, it needs exercise and a very good diet. You would think I would have done something about this, but I think I kind of just gave up. It has taken a lot for me to get here. But, I thank Sleek Girls for being such a huge inspiration to me. Because of all of the support, encouragement and the knowledge that you ladies have, I have finally found my one true love in life- Paleo, eating clean and fitness. I suffered from migraines for years-and I get them so much less now. I used to get extremely depressed, and that just doesn’t happen anymore. I used to give up on the smallest things, and now I feel like I can move mountains, and conquer the World. I used to be so negative, yet now I have a brand new perspective on life.

And best of all, I am healthy, happy and living life the way it should be lived. Fitness has become my first and foremost. I’m not perfect. I, too make mistakes and slip up every now and again, but because of Sleek Girls-it is so much easier to get back on track.

So, this is the moment I have been dreading, but I now feel confident enough to show you my progress photos.

I encourage everyone to look into the Paleo lifestyle. I can’t describe in words how it will change your life, as it did for me.

My fitness journey. Eat clean, train hard. Reep the rewards.

Over this past year, I guess you could say I kind of gave up on myself. My self esteem, and caring about myself. I finally had a wake up call and realised that I need to get up off of my ass and start treating myself with respect. I didn’t want to become overweight, unhealthy and depressed. A very special friend of mine told me about a new lifestyle she had chosen for herself. Not a diet. And, she encouraged me to join her. We went for a hike, and I almost died. But I made it, and I am now addicted. In a good way! I now eat clean. I train hard daily. Paleo has changed my life! I have energy, I am healthier than I have ever been before. I eat more than I ever did before. 6 meals a day! At one time of my life I would have laughed at myself even imagining myself eating 6 times a day. Now, I wake up and feel confident! I wake up and have energy. I wake up and want to run miles and miles! I’m glowing. I’ve lost that depression, the negativity and the desire to start every day with a ‘boom’ has replaced it. I went bikini shopping yesterday and was slightly nervous, but I have gone from a size 10 top and bottom to a size 6 top and a size 8 bottom. If it is possible for me (being as lazy as can be) it is possible for anyone! All you need is that push from nobody but yourself. You need that desire to make a change in your life and you’ll be shocked at the changes you see! I stayed away from the scale for the first few weeks, but when I did a health assessment by my friend who works for Herbalife-I jumped on, cautiously and was shocked that I had already lost 2.5 kg’s. That lifted my spirit! 

I have been shooting a lot, and because I am a contestant on Miss Zag (hoping with all of my heart to win it), I needed updated photos of myself. Last year, I gave up half way through because I was so negative because of my fluctuating weight and unhealthiness that I didn’t want to win because they were judging me by my old swimwear photos, and I knew that if I stepped in front of their camera if I won-they would be horribly surprised at the winner they had chosen! So, this year, I have the confidence to be behind that camera if I win. But, I of course need your help to get me there. Vote wise, I am in second place. The one contestant ahead of me is sitting on 382 votes, so is almost 100 votes ahead of me, and I need to catch up! This would mean the entire world to me. I have worked my ass off (literally) and this would be a dream come true for me.

I know for many people it is annoying, especially because you don’t know me. But, I don’t know who else to turn to for help. So, if you could share the word to a few friends, even maybe make a little post on your blog, I would be absolutely honoured! Please also send me the link to your pages so I can follow you.

Thank you wonderful people! Have a breathtaking weekend special followers.

This is the link you take to vote for me: http://miss.zigzag.co.za/profile/LisaHarrison