The event on Saturday was the largest to date for the NPC North Star Event. I had 12 girls in my Figure Masters 40+ group, and 10 in the Figure Class D group. Brittani had 12 in her Figure Class C group and 5 in her Physique Class B. The different class letters represent height classes. Sometimes, due to number of participants, they can change which class you will be put in. This happened to Brittani. Based on her height, she should've competed in Physique Class A(under 5'4"), but they moved her up to even out the two classes. I placed 4th in both my classes, Brittani placed 5th in her Physique class.
I was nervous all day..from the time we work up, 4:20am, until we walked off the stage one last time, I kept having to do my etch-a-sketch shake down to keep my body relaxed. I wanted to make sure I went out there and performed how I had been practicing...relaxed, strong, confident...but when you walk across the stage and into the little box and it's only you in front of 10 judges...it is definitely a different feeling. I remembered what Brittani and Christine told me..look at the judges, don't look out at the crowd. Smile. Pretend you are practicing at home and go through your quarter turns and model poses looking relaxed. Flare your legs, grip your hamstrings, spread your lats, relax but pop your shoulders...and...I feel I did it!
In my first blog post I stated that I wanted to go through this journey giving it everything I had, no regrets, no complaints, no cheating, being true to me and most of all to have FUN. I can honestly say I accomplished all of that. There is nothing I would change about the process. I followed the nutrition guidelines to a "T"...didn't skip a weight training session...followed Christine's weekly suggestions, cut down on my cardio...and Practiced!!!
This was all new to me. Before I started, I really didn't think I could do it...but as time progressed and I started to see the changes, I began to believe that what I was doing was working. My daily motivation was fueled by seeing, feeling and knowing that all my daily Fitness Pal logging, cutting down on cardio, weight training and practicing was paying off. It was worth my time and effort to continue the journey (I call that a good ROI-Return On Investment!!). The hard work was worth the end result...I am proud of myself...that is hard for me to say, but, I'm making myself acknowledge it.
I set daily, weekly, monthly and "by show time" goals...yes, it was hard at times. I encountered many challenges. I travelled to Denmark for my work and had to plan my nutrition, cardio and strength training sessions accordingly. I travel a lot with my job, and had to make sure that even after a LONG day, I still had my training sessions on my schedule. I packed my food and water every morning. I planned ahead and made sure I was set up to succeed.
My message to anyone is that if I can do it...so can YOU! It's like any decision you make in your life...to get married, have children, go on a vacation, to work out at night, or, even a simple date night..you PLAN, PREPARE and make sure you know what you need to do to make it successful.
Don't look at the end of the journey and make the decision...divide it out over a course of a day, week, month...even hours...my "real job" time was challenging, especially when I had to make sure I ate "my food" when doing programs in clinics...the food you love will always be there, it's not going to disappear if you don't have it today (that's what I would say to myself), or, I used the reverse psychology method and would tell myself that I had already ate it and was so full I couldn't take another bite!!
Now, is the off season. I've been asked if I plan on competing again. There are a couple shows in the Spring (Duluth, Fargo and Minneapolis)...I will be at one of them for sure...keep following me on my blog to see which one it is :)
Thank you for all your support for my first show. Your feedback was and is very motivating to me...more than I think you realize. Hearing your encouraging words, sharing that it made you laugh while you read it, or, that it explained/clarified some of your questions about my process, was so helpful to ME! I look forward to sharing many more "firsts" with you...
Week 1 Versus Week 12
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