T-5 hours

Well this is it...today is the day. Here I am in the hotal lobby @ 4:30am making a sweet potato and heating steak in the microwave :). I feel VERY good about today. I've definitely improved from where I was 2 years ago...especially considering a nearly deadly car accident 1 year ago this week and 6 weeks of physical therapy. I worked back to where I was and absolutely surpassed it. I rented a posing suit that is beautiful. My tan looks good. My contest day food is ready. All that is left is hair and makeup and then its showtime!

My week has been very positive. You get to a point where you know you've done everything you can do and you just need to enjoy the ride. Plus my coach gave me extra carbs this week and less cardio...who wouldn't feel good! LOL

Tim is here to help me with my tan and suit. He's been amazingling supportive. This is definitely not an individual sport. When we go through this process everyone close to us is a part of it. I know I couldn't have done this without his suppport. As well as my friends and family. Its such a grueling process that I cannot imagine doing it without the blessing of my team.

I'll post results and pictures when its over!

Final Week

I feel fantastic today. I don't know what happened to me as I slept last night but I woke up feeling terrific. I had a great workout, did some posing practice and I've felt great since. Then I checked my e-mail and have my final week prep to follow from my coach...to say the least, I'm giddy!

I'm so excited and proud to be doing this again. It has obviously been a tumultuous process but again, absolutely worth it! I'm accomplishing something very few people could do. period. Not to mention on top of every day life. I am strong and healthy and I am setting an example for my son to be also. I hope that I have shown some people around me that our potential is only as big as our dreams, if we make a commitment to make them come true...the sky is the limit! The only thing that truly limits our potential, is fear of not succeeding. And we can kick that crap out of fear!

Don't get me wrong, I'm going to have pizza after the show. I can't wait for pizza! But I'll take a week off and as I let my body recover I'll begin planning my next contest prep.

So, Saturday, September 5th in St. Charles, Illinois!

10 Days Out!

Wow, I can't believe it's so close and I'm SO thankful it's nearly here! I feel really good. My body is coming together each day. I eat, sleep and breathe my contest prep at this point.

My workouts are going well. Overall they haven't changed since I started my prep 18 weeks ago. I've been doing them in a circuit format more often now and have been doing a lot more ab work. I'm still lifting heavy. I'm doing 10 55 minute cardio sessions each week and 4 of them are intervals. My food is also good. Carbs are 75g and cycling 2 days @ 100g. So they're pretty low and functionally I'm feeling it. I'm exhausted. I'm taking note of my water and sodium intake now and prepping for next week.

I am so very grateful to have my mom in town right now and she is a savior. With her there I'm able to get out of the house @ 4:45am and get my strength workout and some cardio done in the morning before work. Then my evenings after work are free for Noah and handling clients and my other cardio session fits in at the end of the day. AND she's doing laundry and cooking and things so I don't have to worry about it. I don't know what I'd do without her at this point!

As fantastic as I feel about my progress, I'm exhausted. My body is wearing out on me. I've been going 18 weeks strong without a break and I'm looking forward to some recovery time. I'm getting headaches from a romboid, pec, SCM issue and I have a muscle smasm in the middle of my back since last night's workout. I definitely need a week off to let my body recover. The week after I'm going to do yoga each day and that's it...well and of course plan my next contest prep :)

2.5 weeks out!

So I am 2.5 weeks from the Sept. 5th NPC show. I decided to do it. It is the only date that works for me this fall and I may not be where I had hoped to be but I'm a long way from where I was. I thought about it, talked about it and decided that each time out competitors get a little bit better and learn a lot more. I am going to practice what I preach and stick to the goal of being better each time, striving for my own YOUNIQUE body, MY personal best.

I know it's going to be tough competition. It's a PRO qualifying show so it'll bring out the best in the area. I'll do it and see how I feel afterward. If I still feel like it's something I want to chase I'll prep again for spring shows. But bottom line based on my struggles this time around, it has to be worth the sacrifices I'm making.

Right now I'm focusing on today; my power lower body workout and cardio I have ahead of me tonight. Eating clean, drinking water, getting rest and spending time with my family. It just so happens that my mom is in town until just after the show...she's a Godsend. Just when I was losing it, she showed up. Everybody needs their mommy huh ;)

Back in the Saddle

Yesterday I lost it. I had a little breakdown after the realization that my body isn't cooperating to the extent I hoped it would. It happens to the best of us, especially with this kind of commitment and the pressure that comes with it. Self inflicted of course. I was playing with the idea of putting it off until the spring. I still may but I'm not giving up on the fall shows yet. I need to keep going and see how far I can get.

Today I'm refocused. I'm going to keep forging forward with my eye on the prize but with a realistic vision. I'm sticking with my plan and I'll assess each week where I am and as I get closer to the show/s I'll decide if the money is worth it to get on stage. Like I said, I'm not leaving without a trophy. So if my body doesn't respond I'll keep at it and hit the spring shows.

So I got up today, I put a smile on my face, took a deep breath and I got on the treadmill. And that's that :)

Hard Loser

Grrrr, doesn't even begin to describe where my head is right now. So many figure girls are hard gainers=they have a hard time putting on muscle. Not me. I'm a hard loser. Fat LOVES my body. I may not be able to hit my September 5th show date. Not for lack of determination...I am just progressing sloooooowly. Ridiculously slowly. Fat Albert would be stage ready by now compared to my pace. I'm pissed. You work hard and do everything right and you expect very visible results. I WANT this. I want to compete and do really well. I'm not just doing it to do it. I did that already. I got on stage to try it out. It felt awesome. Being in that shape on stage this time would not feel awesome. I'm working my butt off and I have put SO much into this. I don't have the luxury of time but I'm giving as much time to this as possible.

A few people said to me the last time I competed "you have the body of an off season figure pro". So if I just work hard enough and get lean enough....I'LL LOOK LIKE A PRO! right? I just want to see if this is a path for me. My metabolism is screaming NO! Maybe there are just more layers to this onion than I thought. Fat layers. Grrrr.

My coach is super supportive about doing this show or pushing it back, whatever I feel is right. It's good to have someone in your corner that "gets it". This is way too much suffering for a lot of people....1/2 of this would be too much suffering for a lot of peope.

I'm looking at 3 different shows on September 26th. That would give me 3 more weeks. I'd have to travel a bit though and not have nearly the audience I'd have here. Every scream helps :)

I will continue to push and shoot for my original show date and see what happens. I will ask my body to cooperate. I am very proud of where I am either way. I'm a beast. I can do this.

Down to the Wire

5 1/2 weeks to go...it seems like tomorrow. It also seems like there is A LOT of ground to cover in that amount of time. But these last weeks are when the magic really happens. Changes are noticeable nearly daily. I'm still concerned that I won't get as lean as I need to be to win but I'm doing everything I can to get as lean as possible. I want a trophy!

I am still sticking to the same lifting schedule-5 days a week hitting all muscles 2x's. I am now doing 5 low intensity cardio workouts for 45 minutes and 4 high intensity interval training workouts. That's 9 cardio sessions a week. I also still have my 2 yoga classes separate. I'm working out at a minimum 13 hours a week. It's a part time job! lol

I feel fantastic though. My strength and energy aren't slipping. However I think my moods are. Tim and I figured that out this weekend. I visited him in El Paso and getting my workouts in while traveling wasn't hard thanks to Tim being awesome and fit himself. He had no complaints doing my workouts with me. The eating while on a trip however, is more difficult. Tim, again, was his incredible self and bought a lot of my dieting staples. He ate healthy with me, cooked for me but when we went out of the house that's when my evil twin came out. When you go to the movies or pass restaurant after restaurant and you can't have anything those places serve but you can SMELL it...it brings out the beast! So I got a bit cranky. PMS on steroids I'd say. So a big high five to him for dealing with Sally, my evil twin.

I have a pretty booked August but I'm keeping it as low key as possible so that I can stay focused. As always, the key is being prepared and planning ahead. I need someone to do posing practice with me. I can practice looking in a mirror all day long...but I need critique. Anybody?

So now it's time to put my posing suit back on. I think it needs to be BeDazzled! this time :) Anybody know a good BeDazzler?