Eight Weeks Out And Counting

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“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.

Alex

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!

Standig sideways

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!

side pose

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

back pose

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!

Fall/Winter 2013

 Progress!   October/December 2013

edited back

March 2014

Think Forward and…   Happy Sunday!

Sacrificing More

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In October when I started my training, I firmly decided that Sunday would be my rest day.  A career, B’Dazzle’s football and basketball schedules, football camp combined with a house, wife duties and… oh yeah, me time has me rising early six days a week. One day of rest isn’t asking for too much.

Today that changed. Why? Because it is time for me to step up my game; I need to get in as much gym time as humanly possible.

Just because I have already made sacrifices, does not mean that, more sacrifices cannot be made.

How badly do you want this?  I asked myself.  Really bad! What are you willing to give up?  Umm…  Sundays and then some!

And so at 7 o’clock this morning, I tip toed out of the house and I strolled into the gym.  Bright eyed and bushy-tailed?  Not exactly.  But alert, coherent, and determined.

Day Light Savings Time stole an hour from me this morning.  I didn’t appreciate it, but got over it.

The workout started with posing practice in the fitness room.  Hard wood floors and wall-to-wall mirrors help me to get acclimated with 5-inch heels and to get acquainted with popping muscles.

Posing is exhausting.  For me to look like a natural on stage, I must practice… A LOT!     Pose in the morning, pose in the kitchen, pose in the bathroom, pose EVERYWHERE!

Last week while buzzing around the kitchen before work, I slipped on my 5-inch stilettos.

My competition shoe

My competition shoe

My thinking is, if I walk in the shoes enough at home and at the gym, by show time, they should feel like slippers and I ought to be quite comfortable. I wear heels, but never this high.

Today was leg day and I worked hard at dead lifts, squats, lunges, and more.  Three sets of sitting leg presses at 420 pounds has my legs feeling dogged tired.

I’m off to bed now so that tomorrow I awake feeling refreshed and rested. After work, it’s straight to the gym for another day of exceeding my expectations.

“Bodybuilding is much like any other sport.  To be successful, you must dedicate yourself 100% to your training, diet, and mental approach.”

-Arnold Schwarzenegger

Sweet dreams!