Bodybuilding Process Updates:
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted. There was quite a bit going on in my life that I had to wrap up, like the school year for both work and my own education. But I wanted to update you and give a big thank you to those who have supported me through my GoFundMe account. I really appreciate you all and the donations have helped immensely. As I go through this last month of preparation for my competition, I’ve had some great insights about my progress. I’d like to use this post to share them with you.
Food update:
I’m still eating egg whites for breakfast and cod for lunch and dinner. My macros each day are: 110 grams of protein, below 25 grams of carbs, between 50-70 grams of fat, but I usually stay on the low end since it can be hard to eat a lot in one day, unless I just eat spoonfuls of almond or sunflower butter, that is. Honestly, sometimes I do that to make up for any deficits, but I usually prefer to use the grams for something like butter on the fish.
Highlights:
Recently, I was able to move from a 7-8 on the StairMaster to a 9-10. That translates to about 6 miles-per-hour. At one point, I calculated that it equals one mile every ten minutes. That’s a bit slower than I run normally, so it seems reasonable for being on a stairmaster.
I’ve started working with a posing coach (thank you all again for the financial support, I hadn’t originally factored in this cost). Posing is exciting and it makes the whole competition seem more real. Another benefit is that it has helped me begin to see my body in a more positive light. I tend to see it through the lens of where I wish it was, but recently during my posing practice I’ve started to really see my lats, the definition in my back, and my crescent moon thighs. Allison was even kind enough to take a picture of my butt so I could see that too. And I was actually pleased when I saw it—that’s never happened. I don’t want to sound like I hate my body because I really don’t; I just have goals of how I’d like it to look. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I would ever reach those goals I’d been looking at my body for so long I wasn’t sure it could be transformed to what I wanted. But during this week’s session, I was really able to see the improvements.
I definitely need to offer a huge thank you to my posing coach, Allison. She’s incredible. She knows her stuff and has been extremely helpful in encouraging me but also correcting my poses. The biggest aspect of posing is flexing my lats, kind of like fish fan out their gills. Surprisingly, that actually came easily to me. I’m not sure what that means, but it is a key aspect of posing, so I guess it’s a good thing. Since I was able to do that successfully, we mostly worked on turning and flowing as I moved from position to position. This is much harder than it seems, especially since I’m trying to do it in 5-inch heels. Speaking of which….
I recently purchased my heels, they’re essentially stripper heels. They’re made of a clear material, but they have a bit of bling to them as well. I can actually walk in them and not look like a newborn baby calf. All of these accomplishments are very exciting to me! Even so, I still have quite a bit of practicing to do until I can really flow well; I’m definitely not flawless in my movements.
Also, I actually registered for my competition, which happens to be right here in my own town! That means I don’t have to travel, which is great. Based on my coach’s advice, I entered two categories: figure and physique. I decided not to enter the bodybuilding category because that requires a whole other level of muscle I don’t have. But honestly, I’m totally okay with that. There are so many different categories and they’re all based on different levels of muscle. The process of deciding what to enter was very informative, but also pretty confusing. I didn’t realize the categories distinguish between each competitor’s levels of muscle.
In other news, I recently met another woman at the gym who helps keep me going. She’s sort of like a real-life inspiration. She’s another bodybuilder who’s competing the week after me in a different age group. Knowing that we’re both training and reaching for the same goals is motivating for me. When I get tired and I want to stay home after work, I remind myself that she’s probably at the gym. Then I get up and go. I probably wouldn’t stay home anyway, but that realization is encouraging to me and makes the incentive real. I’ve actually spoken to her and she’s very sweet. Often, while we’re using the StairMaster machines, we get to chat. It helps the time go by faster, plus we both get to complain about how hungry we are.
Vintage Vitality 