To carb or not to carb...

That is always the question!  Unfortunately in my case the answer is almost always NOT to carb, but every competitor is different.  We all process foods differently and my stubborn body just doesn't really seem to do much with carbs or fat except store them under my skin.  So this causes my poor husband to change my diet every so often to shock it into submission (as I like to call it).  I say my "poor" husband because once those necessary changes are made, my hormones seem to get completely out of wack and I become a complete Biatchhh.

It's absolutely insane how much food affects my mood, personality, and yes even my brain power.  I know that I'm lean enough to compete and have done well in my competitions so far this year, but I'm one of those people who want to take it further.  I want to challenge myself in new ways every chance I get.  So to switch things up a bit, I'm competing in both bodybuilding and figure at my competition on 7/9 in San Jose .  I'm really just doing the bodybuilding for fun because I miss flexing my muscles.  Believe me, I'm not naive to the fact that I'm a natural competitor who'll be trying to compete against women who may (or may not) have had some pharmaceutical help along the way, but it'll be fun nonetheless.  So, my point was that I want to get harder & a little leaner for my upcoming shows- San Jose bodybuilding show, the natural Pro figure show, and the national level Physique show in Vegas.  Needless to say I talked to my husband and after taking a good look at me he decided to go ahead and cycle my carbs a bit more drastically (at his own risk!). 

These jeans fit me in '08 during my
 1st contest prep.
I weigh more now than I did then!
.

I've gotta admit that I'm not "fun" right now.  It always takes my body about 2 weeks to adjust to even slight changes in diet.  So following this revised plan has been extra tough on me- especially mentally.  I get frustrated (like I'm sure all of you do) when I follow a program perfectly and then don't see the result right away.  It's our nature as humans (and Americans for that matter) to want immediate gratification.  It'll be 2 weeks on Tuesday that I've been following the new plan and I'm finally starting to see the fruits of my labor!  I see new veins and muscle definition as well as the hardness I've been working towards in my legs. 

Yesterday, after walking around like a zombie for a week, I decided to "flip the switch".  I get tired of people telling me how exhausted I look all the time so I decided that I'm done with that!  I'm going to go to bed at a decent hour, get my cardio and workouts in, and love every second of it!  I chose this lifestyle and I need to remind myself (maybe even daily) why I do it.  I do it because I love the challenge, I love stepping on that stage, and I love feeling like I've accomplished something that very few people are able to do.  But, in all honesty, I couldn't and probably wouldn't want to, if my husband wasn't behind me 100%.  His support is everything to me...the least deserves is for me to be nice to him!  I'm off to a good start today and tomorrow I'm going to make even better than today! :-)

Let the craziness subside...for now.

What an insane couple of weeks I've had!  Between my own competitions and my clients' contests, I feel like I haven't even taken a deep breath in the last few weeks!  Our team's had 3 contests in the past 3 weeks, 2 of which were out of town.  But I must say that both our company Iron Addiction and I are off to a really good start this year.  All of our competitors have placed in the top 5 in each contest and a few even placed first.  I feel like such a proud mama watching them on stage :-)

As for myself, I've done 2 contests so far- the Contra Costa May 7th and the Cal State May 29th (both were NPC contests)  and I placed first in figure A in both.  I'm off to a great start this season and am getting revved up for the next ones now: the San Jose- July 9th (NPC), the IFPA Pro USA in Sac July 16th, and the NPC USA's in Vegas July 29th.  After that?  I have no idea really.  I'm really waiting to see how I do in these next big contests.  It's almost like my recent contests were just warm-ups for the "big ones".  I know that I need to get a little tighter and leaner for these next shows, so that's where my focus is going to be for these next few weeks.

I have a lot going on right now, but I feel really good about the upcoming contests and the decisions I've been making concerning my future competition plans. I've decided to switch over to the NPC Physique division at the USA's this year.  It took some serious soul searching, but I'm excited about making the change.  I've missed being able to really flex my muscles!  Since Physique is pretty similar to "regular bodybuilding", I figured I'd go ahead and compete in both the bodybuilding and figure divisions at the NPC San Jose show in July.  Those girls are going to out-weigh me by about 25 lbs, but  I really just want to do it for fun. I miss the performance aspect of bodybuilding- doing that routine was my favorite part!  The figure stage walk just isn't the same high as the one you get from bodybuilding.  I also think it'll help me to condition for the 30 minutes we'll be on stage in the IFPA show....

 

I've come to a couple of realizations over the last few weeks of watching my team compete.  First of all, I absolutely LOVE this sport!  It doesn't matter what side I'm on- whether be coach or competitor, I know that I'll always want to be involved in competing in one way or another. Secondly, I realized that I've been taking it too seriously and putting way too much pressure on myself to win and set the perfect example for my clients.  It really can be challenging sometimes, especially when I'm having a bad day, to keep up that image of  "Mrs. Iron Addict".   Everyday I train these awesome competitors and then I go home to my coach/trainer/husband extraordinaire at night.  I feel like not only do I need to succeed for my clients but I don't ever want to let my husband down.  He works his butt off so that I can get on stage in new blinged out suits, purchase the best supplements, and I can't forget about all of the entry fees, videos, pictures, photo shoots, and so on...

It's not everyday that I feel like hitting the gym hard and staying on my strict diet (of which I've been on since Jan 2nd by the way...but who's keeping track), but I'm going to do it simply because I love that stage and the feeling I get from being up there.  There really is nothing like it in the world and I keep competing because of that enjoyment.  Once that joy is gone, then I'll take a break. But until then...ya'll better watch out if you see my name on that competitor list :-)