That girl is on FIRE....



This is the bling pattern I am thinking I am going to try to duplicate. My suit is flashy pink though, not green. I love the cascading bling! And a total bonus....no patterns to try to keep looking identical. I am hoping it's going to be as easy as what I'm thinking it will be - fingers crossed. I still have to email it to Nicol for her to check out and give me an estimate on how many gross of crystals I will need. That could affect how blinged out my suit will be. They can add up pretty fast. I am going to bling it myself to put my sweat equity into it. It should save me around $150. Not too shabby. Still, four little triangles of fabric is quite pricey! ha ha. I can't wait to have it though!

 

In the eye of the beholder...

I felt like I needed a progress picture to be able to 'see' the difference in how my body is changing. So, here's the coulda woulda - I wish I would have taken them when I started! Gaining muscle is SO hard for my body type. I lift REALLY heavy and keep the reps low. I am still a little on the fence about which way I need to lift. I have been told that I need to stress the muscle and so I need to go for the burn and failure. But my research has told me that with my body type (Ectomorph, all the way) I go into catabolic state really quick. Which in lamans terms means that my body eats my muscle for fuel fast when it goes too long in burn mode. Meh. Do you see my dilemma. Obviously muscle builds under stress - but my muscle eats itself when put under too much stress. So there in lies my problem for building muscle. My solution: I have been trying to lift heavy enough that I feel the burn and the stress in a short amount of time. Since shoulders are my area that I want to build the most - I have been lifting them twice in a rotation. My days look like this. Chest and shoulders day, tricep and bicep day, back and shoulders, and then leg day.

 

These pictures were actually taken on Feb 5th. After looking at these pictures - I really need to remember to keep my heels together! ha ha. I have also had another posing session with Nan since then as well and have fixed some of my quirks :) I definitely think the first one is my favorite.

 

I have also decided that my first competition will be the NGA in April and then maybe another in May. Then I will keep working at it and do the Fall NGA competition. Hopefully with some tools that I gained from experience on the first one.

 



 

 

Another Reality Check

Another Reality Check....

I say 'another' because I just did this 2 weeks ago. A few days ago I got my body fat tested again and measurements done. My body fat dropped .5% and I was a little surprised because as of two weeks ago, I increased my calorie intake by 300 a day. I was expecting my body fat to go up! Well, after sitting down and cross referencing my calories burned to calories consumed I was only getting 60-90 calories over. I am aiming for about 200 over. I about lost it. I was crying, blah blah blah. A lot because of the pressure I'm feeling with my deadline being 8 weeks out (only it could be 6 or 7 but who knows since they haven't posted the competition date yet) and part because I CAN NOT possibly eat any more food! I feel like my whole day is consumed with food. I am beginning to resent food. I need to be consuming anywhere from 2200-2300 calories a day and when your eating clean, that a TON of food. I get 180+ grams of protein a day and I try to keep my macros around a 40-40-20.  Looong emo story short - I am going to take a weight gainer supplement or Ensure everyday. We talked about having a once a day cheat meal of pizza - but then I worry about sabotaging my bodies ability (or lack of ability) to build the muscle I need. So, I think I'm opting for the weight gainer supplement or Ensure. I just need something to give me a few more calories that I won't have to eat and get more full on. Being full is one of the worst feelings to me. Thanksgiving is totally overrated. For me, it's all about the company and less about the mass amounts of food.. ha ha. With that, I'm also going to start taking progress pictures. I'll post some soon. I only wish I would have started earlier to truly appreciate how far I've had to come.

All for the sake of documentation....

I saw a gal who (from the beginning) has been documenting her journey to get ready for her first Figure Competition. What a great idea! Then, if I ever thought about competing again, I could just re-read this blog and see the insanity and hopefully re-think it! ha ha. No really, I thought it would be neat to see the progress and better share it with those around me. I have already done and gone through so much getting ready to this point - I wish I would have known to do this 8 weeks ago. Better late than never though....right? Just bear with me through the roller coaster ride of 'I'm feeling good and confident about this. How cool it this going to be?' to 'What am I thinking, I'm not ready, I'm not big enough, I hate this.' And that's just what goes on daily in my head. ha ha.  I have 8ish weeks until my first competition. I say 'ish' because they haven't officially posted the dates yet for it. Maybe you have to call them to get it - I don't know.That one is the AFBB Idaho Gold Cup BodyBuilding, Fitness, Figure, Bikini Championships. But I would assume from the previous years that is will be at the end of the month. Then I plan on competing again 4 weeks after that on April 27th in the NGA Northwest National BodyBuilding and Figure Championships. We shall see....