Renae94’s BodyBlog

So I was freaking out a little about being a little fluffy so I decided to go back to what I know as tried and true, CLEAN EATING! Not quite my competition diet but along those lines with the same concepts..fresh foods, fruits, veggies, good carbs and protein powder. I also stuck to my regular gym routine and what do you know, my four friends came back!! It’s funny how when you are just fat and you lose 5 lbs you cant tell the difference but when you are more muscular and you lose 5 lbs you can see the difference right away. I love it!! So is it me or what but I feel completely addicted to competing. I think about my next show everyday. Does anyone remember dirty dancing when Patrick Swayze walks over to the table and says “Nobody puts baby in corner”? That’s how I feel. Nobody puts Tonya at the end of the line. I’ve always been at the front of the line…my entire life. I live for the front of the line. Explanation: at my last (and first) show, I was number 5 and there were only 8 competitors and I can hear it like it was yesterday. ”Number 5 please switch places with number 8! That meant I was going to the end of the line. We did another set of quarter turns. Surely he would move me again, there’s no way I belonged at the back of the line. But he didn’t and to be honest I did. I did belong at the back of the line. Prior to that show I started resenting the show. Training had taken so much time from my family, my social life and I was just physically and mentally drained. So my workout wasn’t as focused, my diet not as on point and my attitude was I just want to get this over and say at least I did it. I had stopped focusing on winning and just wanted to get on stage without embarrassing myself and my family. And that’s what I did, but that’s all I did. Once I was at the show and in the environment I wanted to win, I thought I would at least place in the top 5. But I was wrong! I was placed dead last and that will NOT happen again. 

So I have chosen my next show, I feel like I have a better idea of what to expect from training and how to balance things better. I feel like my family particularly my husband having been through this with me now realizes the dedication needed to compete. That’s going to be the difference this time around. Besides I tasted the blood in the water, next time I’m going in for the kill. I will start to post progress pics and such once I start my competition prep in January.  

Until then- 

Train hard, train smart 

Can someone help me out with this? I competed less than two weeks ago. After the competition I binged for like 3 days. Since then I’ve just been eating whatever the heck I wanted but all the while telling myself “tomorrow I’ll get back to clean eating”. Well it’s been less than two weeks of poor eating but my body looks like its been two months. I’m already fat again!! Seriously, I’ve gained a ridiculous amount of weight in a very short period of time. I’m not stressing too much about it because I know exactly what I have to do to get things back under control and I have complete faith that I will but I just want to know is it normal for the body to put on so much weight so quickly? I guess I thought that since I was in better shape physically and I had more lean mass that I could get away with a few extra days of poor eating but DANG, two weeks ago I had a six pack (OK, OK a four pack) but today I look like the long lost sister of the Pillsbury dough boy. I look FLUFFY!! Oh yeah, my pants are all tight in the thigh area…that’s no fun.

Ok so now let me say that I have finally gotten back to the gym and put together a post comp workout and eating plan and it’s going well but I don’t have nearly the confidence that I had two weeks ago.

Finally I’ll touch on my first figure competition. The NPC USA Continental figure. It was hosted at the Norris Cultural Arts Center in St. Charles which was only about 45 min from my home so that was nice. The show was running behind from the start which would not have been so bad except my family came at the same time I did which was that morning. They had an extra long wait. My six year old had a meltdown and my hubby was at his wits end. BACKSTAGE- It was such an honor to be in the presence of so many beautiful women (and men…holla). All of the women were awesome and friendly. We learned so much from each other and it was just a great time. ONSTAGE - being on staging was undescribable. It was so electrifying. I thought that I would be nervous and I was but it was an excited nervouse. I have to say that I was dreading the T-walk at the end of the night but it was the best part of the competition. The judging was done so there was nothing left to do but enjoy yourself and show off all of your hard work. So my advice to anyone that has considered competing (in anything), JUST DO IT!! Would I do it again??

Saturday night after show…”NO, never!!” (I was placed at the end of the line during so I was devastated and discouraged)

Sunday morning after show…”I don’t think so” 

Sunday afternoon…”well maybe becuase I know that I can bring a better package to the stage”

Sunday evening…next Show APRIL 11th, 2009.

C ya on stage!!

-T

So after much debate and contemplation I finally decided to give it my best shot at Europa. Well wouldn’t you know it circumstances decided for me that Europa was not to be. Long story short an unplanned surgical procedure for my father and a mini van that needed $1500 in repairs made the trip to Dallas nearly impossible. Anyone that has planned for something and set their heart on it knows how devastating it can be to have those plans change and there’s literally nothing you can do about it. Well there were some things but it crossed the line of what I was willing to sacrifice so I sulked for a couple of days, took the kids to six flags yesterday and today I’m back at it. This time there will be no stopping me and this time there will be no doubt in my mind as to whether I’m ready. I’m shooting for about 5 weeks from now. I’m in the midwest and there’s a show in Detroit and a show in Cleveland that I’ve got my eye on. I’ll keep you posted once I  make a decision. Oh yeah the other thing that sucked about not doing the Europa show, I lost a ton of money. $80 registration, $150 tan and $144 hotel room since I didn’t cancel 24hrs prior to arrival. Oh well, it’s over and I’m officially moving past it. Thanks to everyone that has shown me love!! I won’t disappoint, I will take the stage!

So, I’m 1 week out from my very first figure competition. Registration has been mailed, suits are in, tan is scheduled, hotel is booked. Leave it up to me to unknowingly sign up for the biggest pro/am in the US! Legs are looking better although they could use another 2 weeks of conditioning IMO. I’m still working them hard until about Wednesday then it rest and drying out.

I’m not sure what my expectations are of this competition. Competing in Figure started off as a small personal goal that I set for myself almost 2 years ago(I quit the first time around). It was supposed to be this quiet thing that I trained for in my "extra" time and then I would compete at a small local show. Well it has evolved into so much more than me. There are so many people invested in this competition one way or another other that it’s crazy. My family obviously because they’ve been the closest to it all and sacrificed so much. Then you have my friends that have supported me, the staff at my gym, and of course my co-workers that have watched me pass on lunches and after work events and offered words of encouragement and admiration. Most of all my 15 year old daughter. I can’t put my finger on why this means so much to her but she is so emotionally invested in this that I can’t even explain it. The first time I tried on my 1 pc suit she cried. She was so proud of me and I was just overwhelmed. I’ve told people before that I wanted to lose weight this way specifically to set a positive example for my daughter but the funny thing is I never told her that. Yet, I see her making positive choices with regard to her health. Her eating and excercising habits have definitely changed without me even pushing her so bottom line no matter how things go in Dallas, I’ve already won.

Two weeks out. Legs are show a little improvement and I do mean a little. I’m very nervous but at this point in the game I’m determined to see it through. I didn’t practice my posing as much as I would have liked to so I feel as though I’m forgetting everything that I learned. I’ve swithced my cardio from Elliptical & Glute Shredder to Stairmaster & Glute Shredder. I’ve switched my diet to all whole foods, no more Sludge. Tilapia, almonds and veggies. The family is very excited about the trip, I’m looking forward to funnel cake at Six Flags the next day. However, I don’t plan on going all out with a post comp binge. I’m looking at a local show in October depending on how Europa goes and there’s no way in hell I’m starting all over again. My goal is to stay within 5-10 lbs of my comp weight at all times unless i’m doing a lean mass bulk. My posing suits have not arrived yet BUT they are on the way!! I can’t wait to see them. Sleeping is becoming a little more difficult. I odered some Knockout from Primaforce, we’ll see if that helps.

So here I am three weeks from Europa and I just took my first figure posing class. My husband and I drove out to Columbus so that I could learn from Mike and Julie at the fitness factory. We almost missed the posing class since I forgot that we lose an hour going from Chicago to Columbus and didn’t account for it. Anyway we made the class, Mike is a hard ass that tells it like it is. I learned so much from him in such a short period of time. I wish there was a way that I could get back out there before the comp but that probably won’t happen. After the class I did a 1 on 1 with Julie to help refine some of the things I learned in class and as well as ask any questions.

Legs are looking better today (learning how to pose them correctly helps also). Still some work to do but I’m a little more comfortable with where I’m at as well as what to expect from the show. I was told that I have to walk sexier in my heels. Sexy? what’s that? I’ve got 4 kids not sure if I can do sexy anymore. Oh well, I was told to fake it until I make it so I’m off to Target to practice walking sexy in my heels behind the cover of a shopping cart…LOL

-T

So this is not only my first figure competition but it’s also my first time blogging. I’m usually a pretty private person but I feel like I need to get this out of the way. So I’m 3 weeks out from Europa and I still have some weight to drop. I’m guessing at least 6 pounds which I haven’t dropped 2 pounds per week since I started this transformation back in January.

So my issue is that my upper body is very lean, although I know I could use some more mass and work on my v-taper but even worse my lower body still looks soft and yes even a little flabby in a couple of key areas. Now I’ve looked at pics of women in past comps and went they weren’t stage ready why did they still compete? Well now I know. You diet down for so many weeks, you book the hotel, reserve the car and buy the plane tickets. So what’s one to do when they are 3 weeks out and noticeably behind where they should be? Especially if the rest of the trip is supposed to be the family’s summer vacation. Tell my 5 & 7 year old were not going becuase  Mommy couldn’t lean out? Tell them that this "competition" that they’ve heard so much about, the reason why I’ve practically neglected them for the past 2-3 months isn’t going to happen. NO!! You keep your diet at 100%, you dig deeper at the gym than you’ve ever dug for anything in your life and then you walk across the stage like you’ve already been crowned overall and everyone else is just there to celebrate your moment! You explain to your kids that winning isn’t everything, it was a huge accomplishment just to be there (especially considering the fact that I was a size 16, 7 1/2 months ago) and that you will diet longer, train harder and balance things better next time.