Trish Comp prep, week 6- Come on scale, move!

Starting weight: 113, current weight 108.2

I feel like I’ve turned a corner this week. The last couple of weeks were rough to say the least, but this week has been much better. It’s nice not feeling like I’m ready to rip someone’s head off for no reason! Although I still haven’t seen the scale budge, I do feel and look different. If you’ve been reading my blogs, you’ve noticed that I take photos of myself every week. I figure that since the scale’s not doing much, it helps me to see some progress!

Taking pictures on a weekly or bi-weekly basis is a reliable way for me and my husband/coach to judge how I’m progressing in my dieting and workouts. Every month I’ll put those pictures side by side and evaluate if I’ll be ready for my contest in time, if I need to increase my cardio, change up my workout split, calories, etc.

When it comes to dieting down for a contest, I have a number in my head at which I think I should compete. Since I know what weight I competed at last year, I have this need to get back down there again. But, I have to keep reminding myself that as long as I’m losing body fat, it doesn’t really matter what the scale’s saying. I’m learning to pay attention to the details…seeing progression in photos, feeling my skin’s “thickness” (it’s definitely feeling thinner!), and also looking for new striations and increased vascularity (especially during my workouts).

I’ve actually read articles that discourage people from dressing to see their muscles during workouts! As a trainer & competitor, I think that it’s important to make the visual connection between mind and muscle. Watching my muscles contract helps me feel the flexion not only in gym but also up on stage where it really matters! Time to eat…