The Journey Starts Here

Well it is official!! After talking about it and talking myself out of it for quite some time now, I am finally ready to do a show. My friend said it best (he has done several shows) when he said, "it is as much mental/emotional as it is physical. You must be MENTALLY ready." I feel like I am finally at a place where I am mentally ready. Am I scared? Heck yes! But I am ready to face my fears, put in the hard work, and take my place on that stage to display what months of discipline and focus can do. I need this experience. I want to feel accomplished and I need the structure in my life that training for this will require. I am ready to take my personal fitness to the next level and watch my body transform and to grow as a person through this experience. This is gonna be a huge commitment and a test of my ability to commit. The next six months or so will be about me being committed to competition prep. I have already warned some people close to me that I will be eating, sleeping, and breathing this competition until stage time. I have attempted the initial stages of setting up some sort of support system. Although I am a highly motivated individual, I know I will need the people around me to understand that my lifestyle will change and be restricted for a while and I need their support for these changes. Finally today I met with my posing coach, who will also be doing my diet. I know if I'm gonna do this, I want to do it the right way and not go into blindly. This was a scary move and when I agreed to work with her that is when it became REAL. I'm doing a show...Wow..I can't really describe how I feel right now besides nervous, excited, scared, and a little intimidated. I feel it is an attainable goal but there is definitely work to be done!

Lift, lift, LIFT!!!!

Sometimes I feel like a broken record, but in all honesty I can not say it enough nor stress the importance of lifting weights. All too often women associate weights with men. Like only guys should lift, or if you lift over 5lbs you will turn into this muscle bound person that is depicted in comic books. I realize that I have talked about this before, but after seeing a picture on a certain social network (which I will include in this entry), I felt the need to discuss it again! So beyond the health benefits of lifting (as if thats not reason enough), maybe this will appeal to women. Muscle will appear more compact in appearance versus fat. Meaning even though an individual may weigh more as far as the scale is concerned when it comes to muscle, they will visually appear more compact, tighter because of the structure of muscle versus fat. This could mean smaller dress sizes ladies!! So if the health benefits are not inspiring you to grab some dumbbells, just think about the possibility of shopping for smaller sizes!!! Happy lifting!