Pro/Am Contests Blog

Actually it’s a bit less than 2 weeks, I’m now 10 days out.  You can ask anybody who competes and they will all tell you that there is a period during contest prep that they dread.  For me it’s 2 weeks out.  I’m not a big girl so in order to look really full on stage I have to deplete like crazy so that I can really carb up.  It means that 2 weeks out I’m beyond flat, I lose the skip in my step, I have 0 energy and I ask myself daily why I’m doing this.

This time it doesn’t help that work has been crazy and on top of having to follow a diet of 8 meals of 100% protein ( yep 0 carbs and 0 fat)  I have to attend conventions and Galas almost every single day and night for the next 2 weeks.  If I have to explain to one more person why I can’t even touch the salad I will scream lol. I shouldn’t complain,  I’m one of the lucky ones who doesn’t get bitchy without carbs.  I will forget things and I try to drive as little as I can because I’m afraid of running over pedestrians but my mood is good, I laugh plenty and my boyfriend hasn’t threaten to leave me yet. I still have a life, I still go for coffee with my friends and play with my niece and nephews.  It’s not really the typical social life of a 32 year old, I didn’t eat valentine’s day or Easter chocolate, I postponed my b-day party till after the show and I’m in bed by 8h30 every single night ( hey I get up at 4h30 to train)

My coach called last night to see how I was doing and told me to look at it one carb up at a time lol.  He’s right, 10 days is nothing, I can do it.  It’s so easy to get depressed when you see yourself getting flat and you feel like you have no muscles left. The worse part is that even at 8.6% BF yesterday I had a fat day lol.  My goal was to come in at 3 lbs more than my last show. I did it and we’ll only know on the last day but I’m pretty sure I will come in 4 lbs heavier. I will also be leaner then last time, it’s just weird how we forget the "flat" phase each time and freak out.  Right now I feel I look so skinny, besides my back and my abs that never go away I can’t see the muscles.  My training partner is a WNSO muscle model pro and even she has those days when she’s afraid she’s going to be way too small and she’s afraid she’s losing all her hardly gained lean mass.

That’s when you have to focus on the good stuff, the pedicures, manicures, suits, make up, routine practice!  Competing is fun, when things get rough you have to focus on the good stuff, like knowing that I will have nachos in 10 days, that I will enjoy a glass of wine really soon and that I won’t be hungry!!!!!!!!!  You also  have to look at old competition photos and remember that you will fill out and that you’ll look even better this time.

You also have to remember that you are doing this for yourself, and that you need to be happy with what you’ve accomplished.  I will show up on stage April 19 knowing that I’m in the best shape of my life, that I did my best, that I couldn’t have pushed one more rep, that I followed my diet to a “T”,  that I practice my quarter turns and walk until I could do it in my sleep…  The rest I can’t do anything about.  I might not be what the judges are looking for, they might not like my suit, my hair, my style…  Judging is very subjective and you can put the same girls with a different  panel and you’ll get a completely different top 3.  If you compete with that in mind you will never be disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, I think we need to listen to what the judges have to say and use it to get better but we should always remember that when we get on that stage, we have every single reason to be proud of what we’ve accomplished.

The thing is I know why I’m doing this, I know why I’m working my butt off at the gym.  I want to win.  WNSO is a great federation, when you look at the WNSO pros they are all girls we want to look like…  Jamie Eason, Nicole Costa, Isabelle Galarneau, Maggie Diubaldo, Julie Marsland, Sylvia Tremblay, Michèle Lévesque… They are pretty, feminine, healthy and strong.  They are the girls we post on our fridge for inspiration and I want to be on someones fridge one day

Tomorrow when my alarm goes off at 4h30, I will get up, have my egg whites, grab my gym bag and remember a quote from the great Vince Lombardi that I have on my log book…. "INCHES MAKE CHAMPIONS"