First off, I want to congratulate my good friend Dustin Meyer who won his division AND the whole damn show at the NPC Central USA Championships in Omaha this past weekend!!! Props to him and his dedication to kicking some ass. He may not know this yet (he will now), but he put a little more fire under my ass. He's living proof that it CAN be done your first time around :) Thank you for the additional inspiration Dusty!
It's hard to believe that I've been at this for almost 13 weeks. I literally blinked and there is only a little over a month left. As I typed one month I damn near shit my pants. No joke. I will say that this has been one of the greatest challenges of my life. I definitely haven't lived up to all of the expectations that I had set for myself up until this point. I've slipped up here and there, but I'm human and I can't expect to be spot on 100% of the time. No matter what has happened, I've continued to push in order to get back on track and stay there. I've made phenomenal progress and I'm seeing outstanding changes in my body. I'm very proud of what I've done and I have no intention of stopping.
I'm in the process of turning my body into a work of art. The judges will critique me in every way possible. How symmetrical am I? How lean I am? How spot on is my posing? Can I move in a way that makes my muscles jump out at them? Can they see my muscles in ways that they can't on the women standing next to me? Do I present myself well? All of these things are racing through my mind every second of every day, and at this point in time, I don't feel like I'm going to be ready. My upper body is on point and will no doubt be killer. My arms aren't messing around, my back is shredded AF, I'm noticing a lot more vascularity, and my abs are coming in more and more each day! BUT my legs on the other hand haven't come in much and it's starting to stress me out. Aaron assured me that this is normal for women. He said they may not fully come in until 2 we're about weeks out. Wait.... WHAT?!? Talk about pushing it. I don't know about you, but that isn't soon enough for me. It stresses me out. A LOT. I've been pushing the cardio a little harder in hopes to speed up the process. I'm layering my legs as much as possible and hitting it in the morning and in the evening when I can. I'm training harder than I have ever trained before, and I'm doing it on minimal caloric intake. I won't lie. It's brutal. I'm not having as much fun as I was in the beginning, but I knew these days would come. It was just a matter of when.
The nitty gritty has officially commenced. I have to keep reminding myself of why I'm doing it, who I'm doing it for, and why I'll be better because of it. I'm always hungry and my energy level just isn't there like it used to be. I don't jump out of bed like I did 12 weeks ago. And that's discouraging to me. It's getting harder and harder not to hit snooze 6 times. I struggle to get everything done each day, but I'm taking it all one day at a time. I'm especially taking the cardio one day at a time. Lifting is the easy part. For me, the steady state crap has been the hardest part. The diet is a very close second. If it's not lean or green, I don't eat it (6 days out of the week). Mustering up the energy to run 5 + miles, or sweating it out for 55-60 mins on an elliptical with little to no carbs is usually the last thing I want to do. Especially after a 5am lifting session and working on my feet all day. But I'm learning that I am a fighter. This among other things that I've over come have proven that. It has challenged my mental and physical capacities. I hate it. I love it. I want it to stop. I want more!!! The challenges keep coming and the end keeps getting closer. I'm not sure what I'm more excited about at this point. Hanging out and EATING with my close friends and family after the show, or the show itself!! Let's say I'm equally excited about both. The only difference is that one of them doesn't make my heart race like I'm back in college speech class again.
I started at 158 lbs and 18% body fat. I'm now down to 141 lbs and under 9.7%. I knew I wanted to prove to myself that I could do something that I had been talking about for years. I knew it was time to stop talking and start acting, so here I am. This is not just a fitness journey. It's emotional, powerful, and I have high hopes that it's motivational and inspirational. Time to rock the next 4 weeks.
Until next time!
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