Limbo
It is currently one week after my last Figure Competition and i’m hovering in the limbo between on and off season. I’m warily making the transition from a life consisting purely of gym walls, broiled fish and pull-up after push-up, to…. well I’m not quite sure what’s it supposed to consist of. I’m realizing I don’t really have a life. I sacrificed what most 19 year olds would never sacrifice in order to compete. The last 17 weeks I have been on a competitors diet that I strictly followed and did 2 hours of cardio a day plus 1 hour of lifting a day. I lived and breathed this sport and in doing so, went into hibernation.
At first my friends were concerned about my disappearance… they called me frequently… tempting me with keggers and delicious take out meals. But there perserverance soon waned when they saw that mine was one hundred times more intense, and soon didn’t even bother calling me. They stopped offering me food, stopped notifying me of their wild parties, stopped asking what I was doing on a friday or saturday night. I walked around like a zombie, craving carbohydrates and nut butters. I catered my day around gym visit # 1 and gym visit # 2, sometimes even adding in the gym visit # 3. In fact, I was in the gym so much I got offered a job to work there…. which I accepted. So I REALLY did live at the gym.
The biggest decisions I made in the day were: wether or not to change in between GV1 and GV2 (kind of gross, I know). Wether to have chicken with green beans or chicken with broccoli. Wether I needed a costco trip twice in a week, or if one was sufficient. I became obsessed, even a little OCD, with figure competitions. I spent hours on this site, as well as every other fitness site out there. I studied Pro’s in oxygen magazine while on the stepmill or elliptical. I coveted anything written by or about Jenny Lynn, Gina Aliotti, Sonia Adcock, Monica Brant, Jennifer Gates… etc. I also hung on every word uttered to me by my trainer, IFBB Pro Kristi Tauti (who is the most kick-ass woman ever).
Anyway now it’s over. Not "over" over, but it’s my off season. And I feel like a chicken with it’s head cut off. So… I’m starting this blog to keep me on track in my off season and to document my journey to Nationals next year. So really I’m not done, I’m just One year and Nine weeks out from comp : )
Wish me luck!
Oh and I will list my stats in about a week or so… these past few days If a candy bar called my name, I obliged it. So, waiting for the post contest bloat to settle down and I get back to norm.
May 18, 2008 at 3:29 am
Great start to your blog. Live it up, sounds like you need too.
May 18, 2008 at 4:23 am
Nothing bad if you spend some time socialising with friends… go out to drink coffee with them to a coffee shop or something. Don’t forget your friends, they might help ya
Cheers
May 19, 2008 at 2:49 am
You’ve clearly made outstanding progress with your dedication and lifestyle, Hannah - well done. Allow yourself to have fun, live life, be with the people you care about etc. Without those things, you lose a great deal of why life is so precious in the first place. Strength, fitness, health - these things are not only good for ourselves, but essential tools to help us do what our hearts know is right. Good luck in coming out of limbo! Looking forward to seeing stats and pictures.