Posts

Getting on Stage and Post Show Update

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Competing in my first bodybuilding competition was everything I thought it would be and nothing like I thought it would be. Obviously, the process tested my physical and mental limits but it was so much more than that. It was a journey filled with challenges, victories, and now post-show struggles that have pushed me to grow in ways I could have never imagined. The process to get to the stage was everything I wanted it to be. I spent 11 months losing weight and building muscle. I went through different coaches and training programs to find what worked for me. I lost a total of 34lbs from the start in December of 2022 to the stage. I didn’t hate the strictness of the diet. In fact, I loved having structure and knowing exactly what I needed to do for workouts and eating. I felt as ready as I could be when it came to getting on stage. The process of getting on stage was fun, all the preparation, meeting my fellow competitors, etc. But the day of, well, I didn’t plan well. I picked a time
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3 Weeks Out

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 Each week evolves and changes, and personally, I love that. I am actually more like 2.5 weeks out at this point (15 days to be exact) but who’s counting? Oh, that’s right, I am. I started the week feeling pretty good, Monday showed promise in my workouts and I felt stronger. Likely because of the cheat meal (yes, given by my coach) on Sunday but whatever the reason, the workout was better than the week before. By Tuesday self-doubt started kicking in. In a conversation with my husband at the gym I was reminded of how hard I have worked for this and how far I have come. I know I am not perfect in this process and I know there is plenty of room for improvement. In fact, I already know what I will do differently next prep. But never mind that. Tuesday I was worried. Not because I haven’t done the best I can, because I have, but because I am going to do something I have never done before. That only 1% of the population do. Have I done something like this before? Well, sorta. I have
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4 Weeks Out

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 So far, things are still going generally well. I have hit PRs, continued to push at the gym, and am still making progress. My energy is still really good. My mental health is still good. I am still getting out there, enjoying my life, with my meal-prepped food.  A few things I wanted to touch on. Some strange experiences I didn't know I would have. First, I want to mention how odd it is for people to constantly talk about how I look. Don't get me wrong. I love being in the best shape of my life (no joke, this is it) but it's funny to me how much people want to comment or talk about it. I get everything from, you look shredded (today at my work event) to, you're skinny! For the record, I am NOT skinny nor is that my desire. Am I cut? Yes. Did I ever think I would look like this? Definitely not. But here I am, doing my thing. I don't mind the attention so much. But it's almost misplaced. I would rather people see how hard this is. To not drink for 210+ days, to t
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5 Weeks Out

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I keep a running log of intended blog posts. I would love to have time to write one every other day. I have enough ideas. But not enough time. One could say I could make time. However, if you know me at all, you know every minute of every day is jampacked with things to do.  So here we are. 3 1/2 months since my last post. And I can say, most days this is going great! It's hard to explain the joy that I feel working towards a goal like this. I am not lucky. I work HARD for this. Do I seriously enjoy waking up at 5am most days of the week? Of course not. But I DO seriously enjoy the feeling I get while I am working out and after.  The progress that I have personally been able to make is astonishing to me. How did I go 41 years of my life and not fully understand what I really needed to do? I certainly won't say I didn't have great times doing other things. I love CrossFit and miss it. But this, this is a standalone, independent process that absolutely no one can do for you. 
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Growth Over the Past Year: What am I Working On?

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 I've been wanting to revive this blog for some time. I have used it on and off for many years but I have been missing writing and documenting my journey in fitness (yes, that is ALWAYS what my blog has been and will always be about) and with my journey coming to a head in a different realm than I expected, I decided now is the time.  If you have read any of my past posts, I have probably referenced a bucket list. I actually had a documented list of things I wanted to do and places I wanted to go. A few years ago I lost that list. I don't know where it went (it was supposed to be on my cloud drive) but it's gone. There have always been fitness-related things on my list, and many have been completed. I competed in a fitness competition for CrossFit, I have run half-marathons and one full marathon (never doing that again, maybe someday I will write a blog about it, but that's in the past). There are still things on there I want to accomplish.  Pre-pregnancy I had begun a
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Through the Struggles, I Continue to Push

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 A few weeks ago, in mid-March, I decided I was not getting enough miles in the running training I was doing. Why more miles? No reason other than I am constantly looking for ways to challenge and improve myself. I do have a goal of a half marathon soon, sometime before summer, just have not found the one yet.  The only way I could get more miles in was to wake up earlier and commit to a warm-up and cool-down run, both of which I really needed to be doing anyway. So, instead of waking at 5:30am, I decided to start waking at 5:15am so I was on the treadmill by 5:30am. This gave me a minimum of 50-60 minutes of running, between 4-5 miles every morning.  In two weeks I have increased my miles to 25 a week on average. I am very pleased with that. I am getting in longer runs overall and changing my training up to include HIIT runs, interval runs, recovery runs, etc. I am still strength training at least 5-6 days a week. I am constantly getting 13k+ steps every day.  My nutrition is a-ok. It
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40 Day and 40 Nights

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 It's that time of the year again. Fat Tuesday happened, Ash Wednesday was yesterday and now people are giving things up for Lent.  It was not initially apparent to me what I would give up. I toyed with Social Media or other means of improving myself. I am opting for two things this year. First, I am giving up drinking alcohol for lent.  I will say, my willingness/want/need to drink alcohol has decreased significantly as of late. I am educating myself more on the effects of alcohol (although it does not affect me like others, Tiger's Blood over here, no hangovers, even at 40) and realizing how horrible it is for me and the progress/goals I have in life. I certainly have zero judgment on anyone that chooses otherwise but for me, I want to establish this 40 days to show that it may just be time to remove alcohol from my life for good.  Aside from giving something up, I also wanted to work on something for self-improvement. I talked in my last blog post about the need to forgive m
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