Competition Thoughts- warning LONG

I have now competed in two NPC shows and I am processing the events still. One of my first thoughts on this experience is "amazing!" I'm not sure I can sum up in a few words the emotions and experiences from the past 2 weeks!

My first show was a disaster of epic proportions. My custom suit didn't fit correctly so I had to do a last minute sub out. While the color looked great on me pre-tan once I was spray tanned and on stage it fell a little flat on me. My hairstyle, while cute was too contrived you could say. It looked like I was trying too hard was the feedback I received, so while I love the pinup style and it's unique, it's not good for the stage.

This show really just seemed poorly organized, which ended up being a blessing because really once you've experienced the worst of everything then all other shows will be a breeze lol So from the get-go my tan went crazy and I had to be re-sprayed in the morning, then we found out they were having us walk in from stage right instead of stage left, and that instead of walking out in a lineup for the prejudging we were doing our presentation poses. Oy, presentation poses was the one thing we had not yet gone over in posing clinics and small posing practice. I was very thrown off by all of this and then I got up on stage and was blinded by the huge bright lights and OMG the stage was carpeted too! I pretty much lost my shit up there, I don't really remember much of what happened to be honest but I know it wasn't pretty. On the other hand I was kind of pretty ;)

After that show I was feeling very upset and disillusioned. I couldn't understand why anyone liked competing or wanted to do it. All I could think about was if I hadn't already sunk so much money in to this next comp I would back out. Except I'm not a quitter and dropping out of the show would be quitting. I knew I had a lot of friends competing in this show and the experience would be different so I plugged ahead. I brought a better attitude and even better physique to the stage.

The class I competed in was certainly a hard one, the girls were all young and gorgeous and definitely had more flirty stage presence than I. But I went out there with no expectations except to have fun and nail my routine. I definitely felt I did much better this time around, I was relaxed and did a good job remembering to smile, keep my hands flared and keep my ass out lol When I made first call outs I was shocked! I had hoped for a top 5 finish but honestly wasn't expecting it at all. There was so much excitement before stepping on stage I nearly forgot everything (and yes there was drama with my tan AGAIN!) when we got off stage the whirlwind of excitement did not end.

After getting back to my hotel room I had a few minutes to relax, eat some food and check in with everyone on facebook. Then I had to pack my bags freshen up and head out for a photoshoot. That was a lot of fun but holy hard work batman! Not sure I really want to do any actual modeling work haha. I had like no idea wtf I was doing and I'm sure that made it not so fun for the photographer.

Once the photoshoot was done it was back to my room where a few of us competitors hung out and chatted, ate a bit more food, fixed our hair and makeup and right back to the venue. I had to be re-sprayed AGAIN (omg!) which made me way too dark IMO and still looked like crap under the lights. By this point I was so exhausted I seriously lacked the energy I needed to have on stage and my smile? Could barely even force it even when they announced my placing! But you know what? I still looked damn good and I am so proud of the fact that not only did I get up on that stage and work it but I took home 4th place and qualified for Jr USA's which has been my impossible/possible goal.

Things I learned these 2 weeks? Small shows are a great way to practice your stage presence and posing, even if it does end up being a disaster. Competing is hella more fun when you are surrounded by friends and family! I am totally addicted to competing now and am sad that I won't be on stage again for another 9 months as I go into off season to build up more muscle. And finally, I am not meant to be a model lol

I have to say though none of this would have ever been possible without a few people.

1-my husband who has supported me through this and dealt with y crazy mood swings as I went through contest prep. He has helped keep me focused and not let me stray from my diet as much as he possibly could! There is no way I could have done any of this without him <3

2-my coach, Amy Perez at Metabolic Mayhem Training, for whom without I may not have reached my physique goals. Some days I wonder how she puts up with me but she does and always keeps me on track!

3-my buffy, Sarah. If it weren't for her I would have never found LBC which would have never lead me to the thought of bodybuilding or competing and would never have led me to my current coach at MMT. Sarah has been a huge source of support for me and listened to me bitch and moan and whine as well as helped push me when I felt I couldn't push any more

Here are pics from this past show :-)

Peak Week!

Before I delved into actually becoming a competitor I heard a lot of talk about peak week. I didn't really understand what it was or meant other than it being that week before a competition. The things I read some of these gals were doing (not just in peak week but their entire contest prep) scared me a little. Eating only asparagus, tilapia and boiled chicken? Ew! Loading up on distilled water and dropping all sodium, uh what? Double or triple cardios, are you insane? No fruit, little to no carbs, oh my!

That seemed to be the standard and I didn't want to do the standard, I didn't want to be another story of a metabolic damaged competitor. I knew I wouldn't compete if that was what I had to put my body through. Thankfully I had found LBC/MMT long before the thought of competing had ever crossed my mind and I knew this was not the way they prepped.

So here I am, finally at peak week and my prep hasn't felt like a prep at all! Carbs with most of my meals, fruit in 2 of my meals, no magic fish (aka tilapia), no boiled chicken or distilled water and if I don't want to eat asparagus I don't have to! Now don't get me wrong I love asparagus and I like tilapia as well, but I chose not to eat them simply as me being defiant to the "standard contest prep" diet. I know, soooo mature ;)

What did change for peak week? Oh well we changed up my cardio a little, and I am still doing less than 3 hours a week, yes a week! A slight loss in carbs (like a whole 10gr oh no lol) just to help tighten it up that last little bit, and the infamous water loading. 2.5 gallons of water per day and keeping my sodium intake consistent. Now I thought man I struggle most days to get in 4-5 liters how in the heck am I going to drink 10? Then I realized it really isn't that difficult at all. I watch the clock and try to guzzle a .5-1 liter per hour (depending on what time I wake up). Even with all of this water I AM STILL THIRSTY! I woke up this morning feeling dry in my mouth and had to chug a liter asap. I also woke up a pound down which is awesome! This was the day we would decide to remove dairy or not and since I am not bloating and already dropping weight I get to keep dairy and protein powder for a few more days. This made me unbelievably happy as I have been creating some amazing "milk"shakes with protein powder and cottage cheese. Now you would think with 2.5 gallons of water in my belly that 1) I wouldn't be hungry/have room for food and 2) want to find ways to add more volume to my food whilst staying on plan, but you'd be wrong. I am hungry like a hippo.

Today marks 6 days out from my first show and I get to pick up my custom designed suit from a fabulous local designer today. Super excited to get it! Actually I think I shall wait to post this until after I have it so I can post a pic of me in it :)

Losing control, it happens

I have really prided myself on how well I have handled contest prep and it flowing well in my regular routine. Now I have always said I am not the routine type, I am a fly by the seat of my pants, what happens happens, kind of person. I discovered this week I am very very much the routine type. You see up until last week my routine was fairly boring and routine. Get up, drive the husband to the vanpool, come home and do dishes, make coffee, get kids up for school . . .and so the day progresses. Nothing really exciting you know? A little tv here, a lot of facebook there, go to the gym blah blah blah. Nice and comfy. And then I joined Team Save Fitness and holy balls did my routine fly right out of the window and my life went from boring and predictable to insanely busy! Trips to Renton to train with Tanji Johnson, posing clinics, field trips for the kids and kids with the chicken pox. I am still not done, I have more training this month, team camp, posing class, meeting with an image consultant and my suit designer, and I am sure more field trips and more kids with chicken pox, on top of running my business and I am supposed to be starting my PT job at the produce stand any day now. That leads us into the whole losing control thing. All of the past week+ activities started to catch up to me and I was losing sleep on top of it. Two days ago started a downward spiral into bingeville. I am not a binger, I am not an emotional or stress eater and generally I don't really eat sweets. I had a big bite of my sons birthday cake and it was so delicious, suddenly it was like a sugar trigger had been set off. I couldn't stop eating the frosting candy bits from the cake. Later that night I ate 2 cookies and made a fluffernutter sandwich (if you have never had one of these omg eat one!). I woke up yesterday with the resolve to stay on track, and figured being on another field trip it would be pretty simple to do right? Wrong. It started out innocently enough with a cookie, and then another cookie, then a huge ice cream cone, chocolate covered pretzel bites, some potato chips . . . I came home and said to myself I am going to bed and I don't plan to eat anymore. Yea that didn't really last long. Made a buffalo chicken wrap, had a grilled cheese with tomato soup, rice cakes, mini cookies, chocolate froyo popsicle, gummie bears. Yea it was bad. I finally fell asleep but then was woken up by my husband bringing up my last meal of the night. I woke up miserable, I felt like I needed to throw up, my stomach was so bloated it almost looked like I was having a food baby, and yet I ate that snack he brought up. I woke up this morning and while I felt better I knew it wasn't going to be pretty. My abs are gone and they feel bruised (wtf?) ad I am up 5lbs. Of course I know it's all glycogen and water and will go down in the next day or two but I feel even worse for what I put my body through. I talked to friends and that helped me work through what happened and how I lost control like I did. It happens, it's "normal" and I just need to pick up and move on. That is exactly what I plan to do. Along with that I need to set my schedule better and learn I simply cannot do it all. I may be super but I am also human and humans have limits and breaking points. I think I found mine! Today, fresh start, new day. Back on track focused on my goals. I will remember exactly how miserable I felt and feel with that major food binge so I don't have a repeat. I also can see that any plans I had to eat loosey goosey after my comp will not happen, my body just does not like it one single bit!

The insanity has begun!

Man what a week this has been! I made the decision to join Tanji Johnson's Team Save Fitness and things have been a whirlwind! We had our initial consult and posing practice on Thursday which was a lot of fun and I learned quite a bit. I adore this woman, she is so charismatic, bubbly, friendly, genuine! I nearly kissed her when she told me I had no visible cellulite and how nice it was I didn't have any back fat rolls as many competitors do still at this stage. Hmm I don't think I have ever had back fat rolls! Friday was a very long 12 hour day with Victoria's class for a field trip and then I was right off to the gym for training. Saturday was back up at Tanji's gym for our first team posing class. This is where I really felt the burn, posing for an hour is not easy. Hell bikini posing in general is very hard on the body. There is a lot of back arching, chest lifting, tummy sucking, hip twisting, shoulder rotating positions to contort your body into. Finding the right pose for your body in both the front and back pose stances can be tricky. Thank goodness for this team and all of the posing practices we have! Today was yet another busy but not as busy day, to Oly for hoop class, to the gym for training, posing and pictures, and then home to discover 2 more cases of kids with pox! So Pixie has recovered and has been back in school all week and now the other 4 will be out of school this week. I had been looking forward to my quiet Monday to make phone calls and catch up on clients meal plans. I'll still be doing those things but now I will have to do it with kids in the background. And then the rest of this week is more insanity with a field trip on Tuesday with Pixie, teaching a training to Nate's division on Wed, Thursday will be an image consultation and training with Tanji, Friday wow I think I have Friday free, Saturday is a fairwell party to some dear friends, and Sunday is hoop class and a wellness presentation. The week after that should be quieter with just having a suit fitting/consultation possibly. As far as I know at the moment nothing is planned for that week, I really really really hope it stays that way!

Food as fuel vs food as entertainment

This is something I see come up a lot, especially the more I read into this beast called bodybuilding competing. When it comes to food and contest prep there is a fine line between being overly obsessed and having a healthy relationship with food. I can see how easy it is to cross that line! As someone who has always enjoyed food, and growing up in the south spent many a weekend at social gatherings that were very foodcentric. No matter what food always seemed to be the center of all events! Now I am in prep mode and while I still enjoy a very large range of foods and certainly have learned how to create basic foods into amazing fun foods I do look at food a bit differently. It is the fuel for my body, my muscles. It is what powers my workouts and keeps me healthy on the inside. I eat to workout, not workout to eat. Oh well maybe I do workout to eat, I have some amazing postworkout foods ;) However, just because I do have this healthy relationship with food, seeing it as my fuel, does not mean I don't or can't see food as entertainment! This is where I think the line gets crossed from healthy to obsessive. In my opinion if you only view food as one or the other, there is a problem. You need a healthy balance of fuel and fun, when it becomes so strict it's only fuel or you just don't give a rat's hiney and food is all about enjoyment, it's time to take a look at what is going on deep inside. I read a comment snarking on girls that create post comp food binge menus. For some, the ones who prep the insane way, this can spell disaster. For others it can be a way of putting specific food wants down on paper and out of their heads. I've been on a fantastic nutrition plan since August of 2011, not a long time really but certainly no room in there for some of my favorite occasional treats. I'm not an emotional eater, I have no emotional attachment to any food. I have a post competition fun food list. Will I eat all the items on my list? Oh heck no! I know my body can't handle all of that crap LOL plus I have no plans of having a post comp rebound. Or maybe I will have every item on my list, 1 bite of each. All things in moderation I say! I do plan to let loose and just enjoy some good eats the week after my comp, I want to relax, chill out and not think about calories or weighing portions etc. So what are your thoughts? Can food be both fuel and entertainment? Do you balance out the fun with the necessary, or do stay pretty strict with your food all year round?

9 weeks to go!

It's crunch time baby! The single digit countdown has begun to my first bikini comp! I've had a lot of ups and downs this week. I know I am at the stage where I have to bust my ass hard for very little calculable results and that stresses me out a little. While I know technically my physique is stage ready for this region it is not the physique I want to take on stage. I know I am going to have to start reigning myself in on the "free" extras I toss into my meals and working on reducing my subs and making sure I keep them to 1-2 ingredient foods rather than multi ingredient (even if they are "clean") foods. I am halfway through my second week on my new workout plan and I am loving it so much! Somedays I feel like a total badass with what I can push/pull as far as weight goes. I'm a tiny little thing and even in a deficit I am still getting stronger and making gains in the gym, which is absolutely amazing! I did attempt to give up coffee, that lasted for a week. I didn't miss it except that well it helped keep me regular, so coffee went back in my diet and I am back to limiting how much I allow myself to drink daily. I have noticed I am becoming more emotional, more sensitive to criticism and being told I am skinny. I've been "skinny" and this is not it! I am muscular, soft, and lean and most of all I am healthy. Skinny is not healthy, fit is healthy and I am fit. That's a lot of paragraphs starting with "I", I'm becoming very me-centric. hmm.

Things are getting crazy up in here

I seem to go through massive spurts of blogging and then no blogging at all. I always say I am going to make it a habit and then I don't! Not even going to bother saying that today ;) Since I last posted I decided to 1-compete on stage in the bikini edition of body building 2-become a certified nutrition specialist and personal trainer. Here is what has happened so far . . . I am currently 10 weeks 5 days out from my very first competition. I am scared beyond measure as this takes me so far out of my comfort zone I can't even see it! I am also extremely excited, not just over the experience of something new but the levels I will be taking my body to. The transformation thus far has been nothing short of amazing. I did become a fitness nutrition specialist through NASM and then went on to become a certified Dr Sears LEAN coach. I then started my own online nutrition/meal planning business which I am loving so much! Since I wanted to also offer fitness plans and I am not yet certified in that area I took on a partner with my bestest buffy, Sarah B. We've done pretty well so far and our clients are seeing some great results! Just a few more days and I can get started on my CPT through NASM too :-) Oh and then of course there is all of the stuff I have to do to get ready for this competition. It's kind of mind blowing and overwhelming at times so I have been doing one thing at a time and slowly putting the pieces of the puzzle together. This is where my body was at 2 weeks ago, I need to take new pics asap! The upper body is pretty much ready, just need to get the lower body to cooperate and tighten up. Overall I am happy with where I am at but notsomuch when it comes to being stage ready. I know it'll get there though, I have an amazing coach!