I'm baaaaaack!

Hi!  I've missed you!  Sorry I've been gone for a month and a half....I didn't really know what to write about and I didn't have anything overly exciting to share.  BUT, now I do. 

I'm officially back on the competition training diet and lifting routine.  I will attempt, for the second time, my first ever figure competition.  Now, let me tell you how this came about again...

As you know, 5 weeks into my last attempt at this endeavor, I came across a pro figure competitor who basically told me I was not ready for a competition and needed to step up my lifting program before I cut weight.  After many tears, millions of calories, some alcoholic bevvies, 10 pounds, and a pretty intense lifting program, I feel like I'm ready to try this all again.  Greg just completed his second bodybuilding competition and while I was there I couldn't help but notice, and slightly obsess over, the figure competitors who were there.  What really struck me was that they, like every woman, had flaws...dun dun dun.  Most all of them were not perfect, they were not ridiculously buff, and they were just as extremely nervous as I know I'll be.

I started thinking about why I had attempted my first competition and why I would want to try another.  Originally, I just wanted to see what I could get my body to do.  I wanted to see how in shape I could get and I wanted to compete and do decently well.  I think I got too caught up in the "I-need-to-be-perfect-to-do-this-and-I-need-place-and-be-super-competitive."  These girls as Greg's competition seemed to want the same thing as I had originally wanted.  One girl looked like she had probably lost 75-100 pounds at some point in her life.  She had stretch marks and some extra skin, but I could tell how proud of herself she was.  She didn't care that she had stretch marks (at least she didn't let on that she cared if she did).  She just did her best and showed off how proud she was of her hard work.  Even with those flaws she was probably in the best shape of her entire life and she celebrated that by doing this competition.

I am not a very competitive person.  I mean I like to win at things like BINGO, or Cranium, but I wouldn't pull a Tony Harding and bust the knee caps of my competitors to win.  My outlook on this competition is that I am going to get in the best shape of my life, do the best I can, and celebrate that with a competition that reveals my hard work.  Maybe I won't place in the top 5.  Maybe I slip on my clear, plastic stripper shoes and bust ass, but at least I will have tried.  I know I am doing this for myself, for my body, and for something to motivate me to stay in shape and stay healthy.

Here's the plan so far:
I have a total of 24 weeks to train and diet.  I'm on 4 cycles, if you will.  The first started today.  It's a 2-week transition into this whole thing (since I've been EATING MY FACE OFF).  I'm essentially doing the same lifting/cardio program (lift 4 days, cardio 2 days) but have revamped my diet (will share on another post).  Then I do an 8-week program that will be a little bit more intense on all fronts--lifting, cardio, and diet.  Then I do a 2-week "maintenance" program where I can ease up on all fronts and just maintain my weight.  The last phase is an intense 12-week program where my diet will be very strict, my lifting will be kicked up a little, and my cardio will gradually increase each week so that right before my competition I will be lifting 4/5 times a week and cardio 5 times a week........

I can't even think that far ahead though.  I'm just focusing on phase 1 right now...so as of now I'm thinking about day 2 of phase 1 :)

Thanks for everyone's encouragement and support.  I really appreciate it!  I PROMISE I will be better about keeping up on this site, now that I have real things to talk about (like my hunger...) :)

xoxo