I’ve completed more than 75% of bodybuilding prep for my first competition and I’m so focused on cardio, weight lifting, buying groceries, cooking food, eating 6x a day, and showering (sometimes..) that I barely have a moment for anything or anyone else.
I was able to catch up with few friends this week though, including Katelyn, in the green suit above who won her first place title a few years ago, and she shared some tips for me to apply to my fitness journey 🙂
My typical look: Bag Lady. Hands full of groceries post work out and toques – they’re great for when you don’t have time or care how your hair looks!
Anyways, that’s what snapchat filters or for 🙂
Previous posts in this series:
- 14 Weeks Out – My Journey to my First Bodybuilding Competition!
- 7 to 5 Weeks Out – Accomplishments, Picking Out My Suit and Getting Tips From a Top 10 Canadian Competitor
- 4 Weeks Out! Attending my First Competition Show
- 3.5 Weeks Out – Determination from Prep Leads to More New Experiences .. and a Bike Accident!
My partner has been gone one week now, and although I was initially disappointed that he would be away for this stage of my bodybuilding journey (and unable to help me cook hahah!) I’m realizing that I wouldn’t have time for him anyways!
I attend a lot of industry events as part of my professional career, which I love so that I can learn and meet people and ultimately promote connections to the University which is part of my job, so I can’t cut that out. Which means it’s mostly the social activities that I’ve cut out. And sleep.
Can confirm: Prep is way easier when you’re single!
I talked about this with other competitors and they’ve confirmed this statement based on their experiences.
Someone else said they’ve seen so many relationships end break up because of the intensity of prep and how moody you get. It’s easy to take things out of context when you’re low on energy. Plus as I alluded to above, your partner is bound to feel neglected if you’re gone all day at work and then the gym.
This week while Eric was in the Netherlands, he has been keeping up our tradition of sending one another photos of what we’re eating when we’re apart. I love this ritual for people in long distance relationships – you have to eat anyways and it’s usually a social activity, so this is one way to share in a moment together.
He’s also helping me populate my IG account with some beautiful food photography 🙂 I’ll be back to posting recipe blogs soon once this craziness is over.
His lunch (influenced by the fact I was eating steak as part of my prep in the early days!):
My lunch:
My new portable food scale that I bought after seeing Tania bringing hers everywhere (more tips for a National Figure Competitor in this post at 7 weeks out).
Inspiration in action: Eric has been happy following my earlier meal plan of eating steak for breakfast, and he’s also hitting the gym regularly while away on business. What a charming gym in the old European town of Utrecht, the Netherlands. I shared this post with my coach Jennifer Weintz to illustrate her positive ripple effect.
Major Accomplishment!
Somehow I was able to fit in rock climbing for the first time in a year and was really happy to introduce yet another friend, Arthur, to this sport. We even did some pull-ups at the end, and I can now do a full pull up – which was one of my original fitness goals!
(More on rock climbing and bouldering including the Hive and Cliffhanger gyms in Vancouver).
Sharing the News
It was really thoughtful that my old coworkers (group of 6 women who worked on the same floor – #luvas!) took me out for a belated birthday dinner and let me choose a place that served lots of protein and vegetables! At dinner, I revealed my secret to them – that I was planning to enter a bodybuilding bikini competition. I was nervous about finally sharing this private goal that I had been working on. But everyone was supportive about my latest crazy plan, and I’m so touched that Tina even said she would be there!
Thanks fellow foodie Irene for the gourmet fare, and thanks Michka for this gorgeous bouquet!
Earlier that day I went for tea with Norma – her first reaction was “Can I watch!”? Just three simple words and yet so encouraging to hear!!!
Tina’s exact words were, “I’ll be there cheering you on stage”. My heart felt so warm and full after hearing that – to know that I had this kind of acceptance and support from my friends. I shouldn’t be surprised, these are the same friends that came out to my burlesque dance performances.
Sunshine Coast with Tina
This weekend I headed to the Coast to visit Tina – A beautiful and quick escape from the city and I’m so grateful to Tina for scouting out such a picturesque location! Blog post on my day trip away from Vancouver here will be coming soon. We explored the parks and local art galleries, trail-blazed through the forests and creek, and then chatted over healthy eats and cozy tea. I love our conversations about self-improvement and get so much inspiration from Tina’s work through Meducated and the recent Alive2Thrive retreats on transformative healing for life beyond cancer.
Meeting Another Top Competitor
WORLD BEAUTY FITNESS & FASHION INC. Bikini Competition
I also went to the gym this week with Katelyn. She’s the one who first introduced me to this world that I mentioned in my first post. I remember her giant jug of water at the front desk and also all the interesting food she ate! I had interviewed her back in 2013 and so it was helpful to have that knowledge going into this prep: that yes, it will take a LOT of TIME!
Interview with Katelyn from 2013:
How would you describe what it is you do? I would describe what I do as a fitness and nutrition lifestyle. For me the competition is the party where I get to celebrate my hard work. I train purely for the love of it.
How did you get started? Once I started to see my body change and realized I could shape my body into my dream physique I was addicted and felt incredibly empowered.
What tools/resources did you use to guide you? http://www.bodybuilding.com is a great resource for workout and nutrition plans. I also use YouTube when I need to learn new exercises.
Have you had days where you want to give up? Near the end of my last prep there were days where I wanted to stay in bed and not wake up for my AM cardio and when walking at a moderate pace felt like moving in quicksand because my body was so tired. When my body wants to give out on me and I don’t feel I have anything left I remind myself that I am stronger than my mind and that the pain is temporary.
It’s important to be uncomfortable to grow in life and not get too comfortable.
Her biggest single tip to me now as a competitor was to NOT compare myself to others!
A shot from the show I watched last week:
I admitted that I was looking at previous competition photos, plus the photos I took at last weekend’s competition, that I was feeling unsure of myself and whether I belonged there because everyone looks so perfect.
That’s when Katelyn told me to stop looking at the other photos!
Her other advice:
- A lot of changes and improvements can happen in the final weeks
- Remember that what you see on stage is not real life, or everyday life
- Everyone puts on weight after the competition and that’s normal – this is where reverse dieting is really important though, so you don’t completely balloon
- Booking a photoshoot will help with keeping on track with your fitness goals
Food
This week I’ve been shopping a lot at Superstore! Here are some of the meals I’ve been making:
Gluten-free hot cereal back on the menu!
Resisting Temptations and Hilarious Viewpoints
Part of office life is the abundance of free food post meetings that are left in the communal kitchen. I sent this image to Joanna about all the things I have to say no to at work. Her reaction was priceless!!
These final weeks have been easier for me when it comes to resisting temptations.
I think to myself: you have already come this far!! What’s another few weeks??
Previous Post:
- 14 Weeks Out – My Journey to my First Bodybuilding Competition!
- 7 to 5 Weeks Out – Accomplishments, Picking Out My Suit and Getting Tips From a Top 10 Canadian Competitor
- 4 Weeks Out – Watching my First Bodybuilding Competition – Vancity Showdown!
- 3.5 Weeks Out – Applying this Determination to Other Areas of my Life – Biking to Work Even in the Rain (and my first accident)
Next Posts:
The lunch picture you posted above of your greens and fish..is that really the portion you’d eat or did you eat half of your meal already?
You’re pretty amazing, I forgot about your burlesque show! What can you NOT do and where do you find the time? Travel, work, blog, make business videos, cook, gym, bikini contest, organize high teas and showers. I love that you actually stick to your goals and achieve them!
Haha! Love my honourary mention … ^_^