Second competition

First competition

Quote

I love this quote! I always felt like I needed to apologize for having a goal. I let people get in my head, and it was really hard to hear what they had to say. Once I put that out of my head, I relaxed and had fun! I love working out and being healthy. :) 

Couple Days Post Competition

I wanted to share a little about my last couple of days. I'm four days post competition, I've gained my water weight back, and yes I'm up 7 lbs, and yes I'm ok with this. You tend to bloat after comp, that's normal. It's also normal to feel like you want to eat the entire house. I wouldn't recommend it! Rob and I went out to celebrate Saturday night. I couldn't even get through my meal, it was so much food and I had a lot of water to drink. Sunday I had my normal egg sandwich and protein hot chocolate, then my leftovers for lunch. Didn't snack too much, if I did it was on almonds and raisins. Sunday night we had a family dinner and I ate "normal." I even had a banana split. And it went down hill. I even came home, had a cookie and a few small treats. Guess what.. The best tasting thing I ate on Sunday was my egg sandwich. Not even joking!

Monday morning I was sick!! I was beyond bloated which made my back hurt even worse than it already was. I couldn't stand up right, I felt so gross and just wanted to die! By the end of the night I was in tears. It was beyond painful. I ate my usual prep food, very clean and healthy all day Monday. By Tuesday morning almost all my bloating was gone. I could stand up, I felt healthy and back to normal. I told my husband that I refused to eat "normal" just so I don't offend anyone. I didn't want to be in that kind of pain again. I ate clean and was strict with my eating for competition yes, but I LOVE eating clean. It's not a struggle for me. I don't feel like I'm missing out. And I love the way I feel when eating healthy. My body doesn't agree with greasy, processed, horrible food. I will have a treat now and then and a treat meal at family things/holidays but that's about it. I'll switch things up to make meals healthier for myself and my family. And I will continue to be as healthy as possible. I hope people understand that when I eat my chicken, rice and veggies out of my Tupperware, I'm not meaning to be offensive or rude. But honestly, my body can't handle what most people eat.

It's shocked me how many negative comments I've gotten about eating healthy. I've even gotten "but you need normal real food." Not to be rude, but I think my food is more real... My food is fresh and healthy, not processed and smothered. And guess what, my food tastes good!! I crave my chicken and rice. I crave my egg whites and my plain (yes plain) oatmeal and malt o meal. And I have so many varieties that I can eat of meats, veggies, and fruits. Once you start taking out the fast food, processed food, greasy food, you realize how good healthy natural food is. And you don't feel run down and gross after! :) Here is a pic of me on Monday when I was bloated, I couldn't stand up straight it hurt so bad. And a pic on Tuesday when I was feeling back to normal. A huge difference! This is what motivates me to continue to be healthy.

My First Figure Competitions

 I competed in my first figure competition 4 weeks ago and my second competition a couple days ago. What an experience! It took a lot of work and dedication. I stressed and cried a lot, but I also learned so much about myself. I tend to worry too much over the little things :) I really learned how far I could push myself and that I needed to stay focused on my goals. 

I started eating clean at 15+ weeks out and I was continuing to lift heavy. I started lean gains; it helped set "boundaries" with my eating. I noticed progress right away then it became a steady weight loss. I loved learning about what I could eat and what didn't work. I learned to love a lot of different veggies. I  also loved the way I felt with eating clean. 

At my first competition, I was so stressed and nervous about stepping on stage. I kept comparing myself to my competition. Don't ever do that!! I could feel myself breaking down. Thank goodness for having my husband backstage! He helped snap me out of it. Once I stepped on stage I felt right at home. It was such a blast being up there and showing off your hard work.  My second competiton I had so much more confidence. I never compared myself, not even once! I enjoyed it and even made new friends. I missed having my hubby backstage at this show :( But he was there cheering me on! :) I met the most amazing girls at group practices. They were so much fun backstage! We pumped up together, ate our rice cakes and got glued and oiled down, we even got our makeup and spray tan done in the very early hours! Haha it was kinda nice to be pampered! Love my new friends and so proud of each of them! I'll never forget how much fun we had. :) 

I had amazing support from my husband. He is also my trainer. When I stressed he brought me back to where I needed to be. When I struggled and cried in the gym he encouraged me. When I struggled at family parties with food everywhere he backed me up, he even told me a lot of it was blah and wasn't worth it. :) For a long time he was my only support. It was really hard at times. I think a lot of people thought I was crazy or not serious about competing. I don't think a lot of people understood it. Near the end I started to get more support. I loved it when my mom asked to see my muscles and cheered  me on. My husband and coach Sandy Hancock were cheering me on when I was struggling to hold the poses. (For at least 6 min I swear!) My parents, my brother and my 4 boys were there to support me. So thankful for all of them. Just having that support from very important people in my life made me feel like I won, I felt such a high and on top of the world feeling.. I cried from happiness. I actually did it. I got up on stage and I placed at both shows. Most amazing feeling! 

My first show-NGA Northern States Open Figure Tall 2nd place. 

My second show-NPC Utah Procore Nutrition Championships Natural Figure B 4th place. 

Competing was amazing! I'm excited to build and see what I can bring to the stage next year! 

Next goal..

I started lean gains this week and kinda loving it so far. I'm getting ready for competition prep. I'm excited but very nervous! It's taken lots of little steps to get me to where I am today and I'll continue to take little steps to reach my goals.

Arms