6 Days Out!

6 days out from my first figure competition!

I guess technically it's not my first competition, but it's my first time trying to walk in heels on stage (I did bodybuilding last time - here's a picture from June 2012):

This competition has got me thinking a lot about mental health and how hard competitions are on a person.  My husband pointed out to me the other day that I'm pretty well in the best shape of my life and am constantly talking about how my butt is still too big and is never going to fit into my suit.  And my (almost) 3 year old has started telling people "Mommy's so hungry".  Not really a healthy mindset to pass on to a toddler.

So what happens if, after all this time and effort put in, I wind up in last place?  I'm still in the best shape of my life, but that's got to be tough on a person's mental state.  Maybe it's self-preservation and maybe it's just me being pessimistic, but I'm not truly expecting to do well in this competition.  If I do, great!  But I'm more in it to get a bunch of super-ripped pictures to look back at 30 years from now and say, "Wow, look at me 30 years ago!".  I'm getting in shape and making memories.

This competition prep has been extremely hard on me for a multitude of reasons.  I'm beginning to think that I was insane to think that I could do a contest prep with two kids under the age of 3 (not to mention a full-time career and all the other things I tend to try to do with my time).  I also believe there is a healthier way to do this contest prep, but I simply don't have the knowledge or experience to do it on my own.

Post competition, I will be immediately switching right into maintenance macros and working at maintaining what I've worked so hard to build for the remainder of the summer.  Come fall, I'm going to devote my time to some serious building.

I'm excited to see what the future holds.  One more week...