OPA BIKINI COMPETITION

LUCKY NUMBER 48

It was a goal from the beginning during my weight loss journey, It took 4 years for me to achieve it. Well to get to the point where I can work on building muscle. The last 4 years previously I was focusing on shedding fat and mentally preparing myself so I can stay focused to embark on the challenge I am about to accomplish.

A day I will never forget and for many reasons. I had goals. I said to myself with intention everyday what I wanted to do. I said at the end of my weight loss journey, I want to hit the stage and compete in a body-building bikini competition, and I did just that.

HERE'S MY STORY

So how did I do it? I dug my heels in literally and worked everyday to make sure I set myself up to succeed in doing so. It really is a conscious effort and everything little thing I did in the day went towards making it happen.

It wasn't always easy, but for me it was always important to keep in mind what I wanted to achieve. "I wanted to hit the stage." and not to necessarily win, yes sure that would be great if I placed but the idea for me and this at the time, was to have set a goal and achieve just getting to step on stage. In my own eyes, I was already a winner if I did that.

It's easy to get unfocused and distracted. Their will be lots of obstacles that will happen, you know just life in general. One of the biggest things is who are the people around you on a daily, because most friends and family members won't understand what your doing so its important to talk with everyone around you seriously. Have a family meeting. They can easily sabotage your efforts quicker than you think. Once you have done this and listen to your gut those that you think will not be of support will have to be put on the back burner for the time being. So get yourself some think skin quick.

My training started November 2015 and went until the day before competition April 30th 2016.

I mean where do I start, their is so much to talk about. First with that being said I will leave out the boring details and just get to the juicy stuff. Maybe I will do a video about it. What I am going to write about on my blog is things like how I trained, meal plans, workouts and the mindset stuff, the mental awareness it takes and how it played a big part of my success.

TRAINING

I trained everyday, for me I had to. I was still in my process of weight loss and competing was my way of kicking it up a notch. Plus I had to gain more muscle to tighten my skin. Being older and overweight a few times in my life I had to work even harder to define the fine lines, reduce cellulite and fill out in all the right places. Gravity had already taken its toll on me I was 42 when I competed. So if your starting from a clean slate you will have your own challenges and process to muscle through.

I kept a journal of all my workouts, maybe you are interested in giving it a go for fun or plan on competing one day yourself. Its around 26 weeks for me like I said, I had to start early to make sure I built enough muscle in time. Others start at 10,12,14,16 weeks it just depends where you are with your body and age.

MEAL PLAN

I loved my meal plan it was very simple and I seen great results from it. I was on a no carb, high fat and moderate protein diet. I never felt more amazing and energized. I could think clear, I had tons of energy and I had no body pain. I built some good muscle and burned the fat off my body I needed too. If I was going to compete again, I would be doing it as a vegan or the same as i mentioned above. Vitamins, minerals and supplements will also be apart of the program for both of course.

COACHING

How important is it to have the right coach. Pretty important I would think. Wait! No I know it's really important.

What kinds of things do you look for in a coach? Well first off a supportive coach, especially if it's your first time competing. Doing something like this is a big mental game so even though you have the meal plan and workouts that's only part of it. You need someone who is going to push you and motivate you be there for your every breakdown. It will happen and this will make you or break you. Did you know that stress can compromise your physic. Yes really it can.

I was lucky enough to have found a great coach but not until I fired my first one. Yes I made the decision to do what was best for me. Thankful because than I found my coach Dr. Kamar. If you feel the person your working with just isn't a right fit than you must do yourself the favor and with good intentions find one that fits your goals and how you want to train.

COACH DR.KAMAR

MINDSET

The last and final thing I would like to mention. Although there is tons of stuff I can write about and I may do so throughout all my other blogs. Just to keep it fresh, interesting, simple and fun to read I am GOING to keep the blogs short and sweet.

The one question I guess you can ask yourself going into something like this is why? and what are you willing to do or not do?

Why are you wanting to compete and think about what your future plans are when it's over.

Having the right mindset going into it will be all the difference in your journey toward hitting the stage.

You know yourself better than anyone. So if you are currently giving yourself a hard time and talking trash about "you" in your mind, you know the negative chatter. Than I suggest you wait until you clean up your thoughts. It could be an even more grueling process than normal if your mindset is not clear.

SUPPORT AND STRESS

I want to also mention that as you know being a female, you will come across other females who will say things to make you question yourself.

IT'S HUMAN NATURE TO BE COMPETITIVE, BUT THEIR ARE ALSO THOUGHTS THAT HAVE THE WRONG INTENTIONS.

They can be evil and try to derail you. Some will rear their ugly heads with an intention to sabotage you, so keep your gut instincts on alert. The second you suspect or have a weird feeling that something is not right about being around this Person, just ever so nicely start to distance yourself and continue with good thoughts, keep true to yourself. So you can keep the cortisol levels balanced.

I will tell you now, the workouts and meals are the easy part. The mental part and the people around you is the tough part. So you have to prepare yourself for the mental challenges that will arise.

Even on this day in the pics below, I was having challenges with those that were around me. It really never ends. But keep your head up and stay focused.

"Look at me on Competition day", I was so happy and proud for myself and you should be to of yourself!

GOOD LUCK and send me a message if you're in need of some re-enforcement in the bravery department.

Masters 4th place

I am on the far right

I entered 2 categories Class "A" 5'4 and Masters +40.