On Sunday, I had to start the part of precontest week that I hate the most—drinking tons of water! I can barely function all week between visits to the bathroom! I can’t stand having to force myself to drink gallons of water, so when the time comes before contest to drop my water to a normal level, it is the greatest relief for me! Other competitors complain of dehydration and extreme thirst, while I am feeling so grateful that I don’t have to drink any water!

The workout schedule is changed up quite a bit, to fine-tune the physique to release any last little bit of bodyfat and water retention clouding the muscle definition. It’s generally an easier schedule, tapering off to allow the body to rest and recover for the last couple of days before the show, while still maintaining tight full muscles. It’s good that it’s not as intense, because with the lack of carbs, my energy is definitely low and it’s really hard to get the legs moving to do cardio!

Leaving It All On Stage

For the first time in my competitive career, I stepped on stage completely calm, confident, and knowing that I had done absolutely everything I possibly could have done to prepare for the competition. I had that feeling before, from a physical standpoint, but never from a posing standpoint. But this time, I knew I would be able to present a beautiful back pose, and that made all the difference for me, mentally.

I even SLEPT through the whole night before the morning pre-judging! That was unusual. I tend to lay awake the night before, or if I do sleep, I’ll have bad dreams that I missed the alarm or didn’t wake up in time or something like that. I have those dreams before almost any big thing that I have to get up early for—-I’m NOT a good early riser!

I knew my class was going to be huge, from the reports coming out pre-show. I got online and checked out the competitor list, and then searched to see who the other women were that would be onstage with me. I soon identified who the top competitors in past shows were, but that doesn’t mean anything—-it’s who looks the best on THAT DAY that matters! And anyone could come out of anywhere to impress the judges. All the judges can do is judge what they see in front of them on stage. Nothing else counts.

Is It A Sport, or Is It Art?

That’s why the posing is SO crucial! You can have the best physique in the world, but if you present it poorly, you won’t place. Our ’sport’ really is more of an art contest than a sporting event. Our chosen medium is not paint, clay, or marble. We create beautiful sculptures out of muscle tissue. The ’sport’ part of it comes in during the training sessions, where we slowly create new muscle mass and reveal it by releasing bodyfat, much like a sculptor releases an amazing statue out of a block of marble by chipping away the excess material until the final sculpture is revealed.

When we present our physiques onstage, all we are doing is presenting our personal sculpture in the most flattering way possible. And that is also why the judging is so difficult, and the results so often anger the viewers. It is completely subjective and opinionated. Who’s to say which piece of art is the ‘best’? Is it the Mona Lisa, the Sistine Chapel ceiling, the Statue of David, Monet’s Water Lilies, or any other of an endless variety of astounding displays of artistic genius? If one were to line all these up and then choose which one is the best, do you think that maybe there would be a variety of opinions? Beauty is, after all, in the eye of the beholder. What is ‘art’ to one may be ‘junk’ to another.

My toughest competition isn’t standing next to me onstage. It’s not the beautiful women with amazing physiques who line up along with me to do quarter turns, and allow a judging panel to pick our physiques apart, looking for the tiniest flaws. Yes, that is what the judges do. EVERYONE looks great, or they wouldn’t even be there on stage at a national championship show. The judges have to find ways to separate the best from the rest, so they look for reasons–i.e. flaws–to NOT place a competitor.

My toughest competition is ME. I have to overcome my fears, limitations, cravings, weaknesses, exhaustion, hunger, and excuses to push my physique to be the best it can possibly be. No one else can do it for me. My competition is the dumbbells, barbells, cardio machines, bleachers, and track—all of which I must conquer and whip into submission on a daily basis. All I can do is be the best I can be. And I don’t know what that is.

People want to blame ‘genetics’. That’s an easy excuse. That’s a wimpy, lame, loser’s way out of really giving everything they have. Yes, some things you can’t change. You can’t change the width of your clavicle, or the length of your arms, or your bone structure, or your height. That is true. But EVERY workout you perform, where you push your body past where it has ever been, changes your DNA. It tears at the muscle fibers, creating a need for the body to repair those fibers bigger better and stronger, so that they are ready for the next threat you place on them. It creates a need for the body to consume energy from your fat stores, revealing more of that precious muscle. When does that ever really stop? How far can it go? What REALLY is your genetic potential? I say you’ll never know. No matter how far you go, when you get there, you can always see farther.

Taking ‘Hot-lanta’

When pre-judging finally arrived, I was so excited and honored to be one of the first five competitors called out for comparisons—out of nearly 50 spectacular physiques! I was way up on the riser at the back of the stage, because they had to shoehorn all of us on the stage to accommodate the huge numbers in the class. When they called my number, I couldn’t find the steps to get down off the riser to the front of the stage! Hahaha! I finally made it to center stage and performed my quarter turns along with the other four top competitors.

After our quarter turns, the judges dismissed us and we were allowed to exit the stage. Yay! It’s hard work to stand up there for long periods of time holding a very tight and uncomfortable pose, so I was glad my stage time was very brief. We were greeted by a host of photographers taking our picture as the Top Five. I had a feeling I was going to place somewhere around 5th, maybe 4th. One lady in particular was in demand by the photographers taking her aside for individual photographs, therefore I surmised she would be the winner. A great choice for sure, as she is a professional competitor in another bodybuilding federation, and is sponsored by GNC. (Wow!)

I was absolutely thrilled, and felt I was a winner no matter my placing. Sure enough, I was correct, and I won the fifth place trophy at the night show finals. The lady I thought would win placed third, and in the spirit of my original comment that anyone could come out of anywhere to win, a lovely new, relatively unknown competitor won the class and her pro card. The judges obviously made a good choice, because she went on to compete in a pro show shortly afterward, and placed third in her pro debut! So she was already good enough to be a top professional competitor.

Now, It’s ON!!!

With what I learned and the progress I made during the training and contest prep for the NPC Nationals, I feel like I am poised to win my pro card in 2011. I definitely still have some work to do, and improvements to make to my physique and stage presentation. Even before the NPC Nationals, Shannon had already given me my plan for the “Improvement Season”, as she calls it. So I already had my plan in hand to hit the ground running after the show, to make the most of the time given to me before the 2011 competition season commences.

For me, there is no such thing as an ‘off season’. No, I am not eating ‘normally’ or what most people would call ‘normal’. I do get to eat a WHOLE LOT MORE, though! I am in a growth mode again, to gain more muscle size and shape, and also to give my body and metabolism a chance to rest, reset, and recover from the extreme stress and rigors of contest dieting and preparation.

The workouts are great! I LOVE lifting heavy, and challenging myself, and I am able to work out in a more traditional bodybuilding style during Improvement Season. And there’s not nearly as much cardio to do. We do gain 5 to 10 pounds over contest weight, so I definitely don’t look as defined as I did for the contest. That’s hard, too. It’s very difficult mentally to look like that, and then to come down from it.

My goal is to win my IFBB Figure Pro Card in 2011. I know I can do it! I am dedicated, focused, and absolutely determined to let nothing stop me. I’ve declared war, and I’m going to win it! The lyrics to my new favorite workout song perfectly describe how I attack each training session!

Disturbed: “Indestructible”
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Click here to view the embedded video.

(You’ll have to click on it twice to watch it on You Tube!)
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“Another mission, The powers have called me away.
Another time, To carry the colors again.
My motivation, An oath I’ve sworn to defend.
To win the honor, Of coming back home again.
No explanation, Will matter after we begin.
Another dark destroyer that’s buried within,
My true vocation.
And now my unfortunate friend,
You will discover,
A war you’re unable to win.

I’ll have you know,
That I’ve become…

Indestructible.
Determination that is incorruptible.
From the other side.
A terror to behold.
Annihilation will be unavoidable.
Every broken enemy will know,
That their opponent had to be invincible.
Take a last look around while you’re alive,
I’m an indestructible master of war.

Another reason. Another cause for me to fight.
Another fuse uncovered, Now, for me to light.
My dedication, To all that I’ve sworn to protect.
I carry out my orders, Without a regret.
A declaration, Embedded deep under my skin.
A permanent reminder, Of how it began.
No hesitation, When I am commanded to strike.

You need to know,
That you’re in for the fight of your life.

You will be shown,
How I’ve become…

Indestructible.

Determination that is incorruptible.
From the other side.
A terror to behold.
Annihilation will be unavoidable.
Every broken enemy will know,
That their opponent had to be invincible.
Take a last look around while you’re alive,
I’m an indestructible master of war.”

____________________
Be Defiant! Fight for your health!

And…..Fight for what you want most!

Christy

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At the end of last week, I finished my first 4 weeks of Bombshell training. I am thrilled at the changes in my body so far. I can really tell a difference, and now I am getting comments from a lot of other people as well. This is definitely the best my abs have ever looked–by far–and I am still 8 weeks out from my show. My shoulders have really come up and are starting to actually have nice delt caps. And I am proud to say I have built some booty!!! The only thing I am frustrated with are my lats. They just don’t seem to be spreading out like I want. They are strong–I can lift crazy weight, but they aren’t giving me the V-taper I need. I told Shannon how I felt, and she told me to be patient, but also suggested I add a certain exercise 3 times a week that is specifically designed to build lat width. I know it works–I can really feel it!

OK, here are the progress pics for this week:

Can you tell a difference?

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Well, I am proud of the progress, but the party is now over. It’s time to get serious. I received my new diet and cardio workouts from Shannon this week. Whoa. Good news, bad news. The good news is I get to eat more food and the cardio is pretty much the same type of routines, just changed up a little bit. The bad news is that the ‘more’ food is a lot more broccoli and added mushrooms. OK–I just hit a wall. I think mushrooms are fungi that taste like dirt. Yuk. And the cardio got doubled up on me. Now I have to do cardio TWICE per day, once in the AM and again in the PM. Plus the weights, of course. Wow, that is going to be hard to fit all that in, just in terms of time. I am going to really have to work on my scheduling, especially with all the stuff I have going at night.

But the worst, for me, is that the ‘cheat meals’ now are very specific, and I can only choose from 5. And since 3 of them are red-meat-based, that leaves me with a choice of two—2 slices of pizza or 3 pancakes with 2 eggs. Two slices of pizza for me is a joke–a mere appetizer. I can easily eat a whole pizza and still have plenty of room for dessert! So that leaves the obvious choice for me–PANCAKES!!! I have always said that if I had to choose a ‘last meal’ it would be pancakes. And I can make pancakes fairly healthy–not raw of course, but with some great whole grains, etc. And I can add blueberries, peaches, apples, etc etc. Yum!

In fact, I have all my stuff laid out right now to make my first batch of pancakes this evening! I have a very healthy stone-ground 7 grain pancake mix, blueberries, and Grade B maple syrup which is much healthier and has tons of vital minerals in it. And since it is a cheat meal, I also have real butter and molasses! And I am going to scramble my eggs with Soy-rizo, which is a wonderful vegan version of Mexican chorizo sausage. It’s great protein and not very high in fat. YUM! I can’t wait!! I have to eat another couple meals of fish and vegetables, and then I am going in on the pancakes, right before the Bulldawgs kick off!

You know, I didn’t crave sugar at ALL when I was on my high-fruit raw diet. Even then, I knew I had to cut out fruit before my shows. Now I am on several weeks of almost no fruit. My 1/4 grapefruit was cut out on the new diet. And suddenly, now all I can think about is sugar! I crave sweets–and not the healthy kind either. On the regular raw diet, I didn’t miss cakes, pancakes, all that stuff, at all. Now it’s so tempting to me it’s ridiculous! I have heard many people say they eat a raw diet with little to no fruit or sugar–no dates, honey, etc. I don’t know HOW they do that! I think my body runs well on good healthy fruit sugars. It is definitely letting me know it misses the green smoothies and spirulina pies and puddings!

Now is when I really have to Be Defiant! I am having to defy my own body telling me what it needs. That’s not easy, let me tell you. I am not craving unhealthy things. I would kill for a banana! But I know that the competition is not real life, so although many foods may be very healthy, they are just not conducive to achieving my goals. And my goal is to WIN the Gold Cup on November 14th!

Would you believe my breakfast consists of 12 asparagus spears & 3 prunes? I also get oatmeal and egg whites. Here’s how I make it raw–I use the raw egg whites (totally safe–don’t even start with me on that one!), and blend them with my sprouted raw oat groats and barley, with pumpkin pie spice and stevia. It makes a nice cake-batter-type blend. I really enjoy it, actually! I eat the asparagus spears first, so I save the good stuff as a reward. That’s how I do all my meals–I eat the things I don’t like first to get them out of the way so I can eat the things I do like. Works for me!

Several of the girls from Team Bombshell are in NY for the Team Universe Championships this weekend. Shannon has been very busy helping all the girls get ready for this BIG show. So she hasn’t gotten my new weight workouts to me yet. So I got a little bit of leeway this week to make my own workouts up. I went back through all I have done so far at camp and my first workouts, and picked out the exercises that I felt were the most effective and targeted the areas that I want to work on the most. Wow–I think my versions were actually harder and more intense! Especially Booty last night–I was sweating my booty off, and boy is it sore today!

Tennessee is holding its own pretty well right now. I am eating one of my tastiest meals, with my little 1/4 apple as the high point. I do love the sweet potatoes. I cut them in sticks, put them in a baggie and shake with cinnamon. Yummy. It’s almost time to get ready to make pancakes and then settle in to watch the Dawgs kick some Razorback butt! I am also following the results of the Team U Championships on www.Siouxcountry.com as well as Shannon’s very timely Twitters right from backstage! Go Bombshell Sistas!!! I hope we take down several more pro cards tonight!

Be Defiant!

Christy