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!