Time flies...

I haven't written in what seems like forever! To be completely honest, I literally didn't have the brain power or energy to write a blog post in the midst of my training leading up to my competition. It took all the strength I had to stick to my diet and workout regimen.

I competed in the Fitness New England pageant on April 30th in figure and bikini. It was revolutionary and a HUGE moment for me. I didn't place; but, that was not the reason in which I began this journey. While winning would have been grand, a plastic trophy couldn't replace the feelings of victory I garnered from this experience. Of course there were some pretty significant moments of self-doubt and angst; but, when I got on that stage, I was proud. I was 100% proud to be me in the body that I've worked so hard for. All told I dropped 20 lbs and 2 sizes and got my body in shape enough to compete in figure! This was my ultimate goal and I was so scared I would get up there and look like a "bikini girl" trying to do figure. Not to take ANYTHING away from the beautiful bikini competitors; but, there is a certain shape the figure girls have and I just wanted so badly to look like I belonged on that stage with them. And at the end of the day, I wasn't lean enough to be competitive; but, that really didn't matter...in 5 months time, I went from having a regular old back to one that I am really damn proud of. I put on that TINY bathing suit (complete with double-sided carpet tape to keep it in place) and strutted my stuff on stage in front of hundreds of people, including those watching it live streaming online and I felt confident. At that point, I didn't really even care what the judges thought, because I knew my coaches and my friends and my family that had been there every step of the way through my journey were beaming with pride. They knew what my battle had been all about and they knew that this was a huge milestone for me. The girl that wouldn't work out in a tank top, let along walk on stage in a bikini...was doing it and smiling and glowing. It was incredible.

There is SO much more to talk about...everything from the emotional roller coaster ride that was prepping for the competition, which entailed a myriad of new experiences...everything from waxing...to applying 10 coats of fake tanner...to eating dry tilapia and asparagus from plastic bags for 2 days straight(woof)! Good gracious was it a trip! It's hard to believe it's all over; but, it's even harder to believe that I did all of that...I really never thought I would be able to do it and I did...with flying colors...I did not cheat one time...and I didn't miss one workout...I wanted to achieve the goal so badly I was willing to do whatever it took so there would be no looking back. No regrets.

Here are some pics that show my progress:

BEFORE (December 2010):




AFTER (April 2011):






Check out this video of the Figure Tall Lineup, I'm the last one on the left:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu7ZxtNoEpY&feature=player_embedded


I will post more tales of my first REAL competition soon...stay tuned my friends!