“The mind is everything. What you think, you become.”

-Buddha

Yesterday marks the 8-week out milestone to stage day! Woo! Hoo!   It’s crunch time!

Pinch me!  Rarely do I have the house to myself; it’s a treat. As I write this, my home is completely silent. Well… other than the tapping sounds of my keyboard and Alex’s paws strolling around the kitchen floor looking for crumbs.

Speaking of crumbs, there’s probably lots of those on the floor these days. I don’t dare peak. Training has minimized house cleaning..  Oh wow!  Birds are chirping out back. Lovely!  As I was saying, training has cut into house cleaning, plant watering, and other household chores.  But–the fort is still standing and that’s what matters, so I’m over the dust.  LOL!

My training is going well.  To reduce the risk of burning muscle, CossFit is only an option when my work and family schedule prevents me from getting to the gym, which is occasionally.

We’re going heavier with the weights.  Legs, arms, shoulders, back… legs, arms, shoulders, back… and so on.  Three sets. Yes, of course we’re doing ab work, everybody wants to see abs on stage.

The American Natural Bodybuilding Federation held a competition in my area last weekend, so I got the chance to see a show from a competitors perspective.  It was awesome and lots of positive energy!  The competitors looked amazing. With my friend/trainer seated next to me, I learned the do’s and don’t’s of being on stage.

Walking, stage presence, transitioning, posing, and more.  Very helpful, I found this was.  The show was great and I loved more than I expected to.

Attending the show help me to realize that I should also have fun too.  Of course, not so much fun that I lose focus, but don’t take myself too serious and let my personality shine.

Consistent practice will bring me comfort and confidence, which is what I need to rock the stage.  I’ll get there.

Sunday mornings, I spend about an hour walking and posing in my five-inch heels.  Did I say Sunday?  Yes!  OMG!  Sundays are usually my rest days, but I’ve given them up.  I am going to do whatever I have to do to win this.  Win!  So what I’m a novice, if I put the work into training, I should expect the best, so there it is, I said the “W” world.  🙂

I finally have some pictures for you.  Forgive my hair and tired looking face…LOL!  It’s Sunday Morning!

Posing is much harder than it looks.  Viewing pictures of myself help me to visualize what I should and should not look like on stage. I was so focused on the pose, that I forgot to smile.  LOL!  I won’t do that on competition day!

In this picture, I’m learning how to do a side pose.  I have to work on those stiff hands. Ugh!!

This is the back pose.  I’m amazed at how my back has grown and developed.  All of the hard work is paying off. There are those stiff hands again!  Working in progress!

 Progress!   October/December 2013

March 2014

Think Forward and…   Happy Sunday!