After spending the last year training hard, eating well and losing fat, the idea of doing a show became very exciting for me. We weren’t sure how long it was going to take or what we were going to do to get there but we were determined to make it happen and knew exactly what we wanted to achieve.
It was roughly 20 weeks out from the Christchurch show that we decided that would be the one. The first time that I’d walk onto a bodybuilding stage and put myself in front of all those people to be judged.
Let me tell you something… getting a female to drop under 10% body fat is hard!!! Especially the first time round !! Regardless of this fact we pushed through and made it happen. Entering the show well into single digits .
It definitely wasn’t all smooth sailing though, as there was 7 weeks of my prep where I had no movement at all on the scales. This was hard for me… As it being first time round I struggled to understand and trust that we would be able to get me to make weight. After many conversations with Brendon and him telling me every time that he had it sorted and would get me there, I would not listen. I became fixated on it, weighing every day, counting the grams.It wasn’t until Brendon sat me down and really drilled it into me that my mindset was holding me back ….. he upped my food intake ( which was an absolute mind bender ) and changed our training significantly , more relaxation techniques were applied and the fat started to come away again .
As the show date got closer I began worrying again, so much so that I was lucky to even make weight in the end. I put so much stress on my body that everything we did struggled to work. So… Lesson learnt, trust in the process and keep stress levels low!!! The body won’t do anything if you stress the way I did.
The day of the show was huge for me. Getting up early to eat, get all tanned up and hair and make up done … Then down to the show venue. Standing around all the other competitor’s is a little intimidating, looking at everyone with their big puffy gowns on, trying to picture what they look like under there, if they are in your class and what you’ll look like standing next to them. It’s hard not to get caught up in it all and the tricks that your mind plays on you.
Walking out onto that stage surprised me, I felt so confident and so proud of what we had achieved. All the nerves left my body and effortlessly I posed and smiled and genuinely enjoyed myself. Winning my class was an amazing feeling and didn’t really sink in at first.
Walking off stage with my head held high, trophy in hand, then running to Brendon and hugging him with excitement, tan and all. We were both so happy, but knew it wasn’t over yet. Time for the overall line up with my biggest competition yet.
We knew before I walked back out on that stage that a tough call was going to be made. Who was going to win the overall title? One of the leaner women with less muscle… or me… Not as lean but a lot more muscle in all the right places. After a round of posing the judges made their decision, the leaner woman took the trophy. We understood why the judges made that call and left the stage with head held high knowing what we had to go away and do to win the overall at the next show.
For a first show we did great, I loved the experience, I learnt a lot and we now know exactly what I need to work on to take my condition and physique to the next level… All we have to do is get leaner… Easy right ??
With all the support of my family, friends and clients I know I can achieve anything. I have been so lucky to have my partner there by my side the whole way, every train, every meal, every near meltdown, every step of the way. He has kept me going when I lost sight of the goal and been my biggest fan right from the beginning, even before everyone else noticed me because of my physique. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for everything Brendon, you are an amazing man ??
Now we are on our next little journey, entering a comp prep together. I have a feeling this will be entirely different than the last one. I can’t wait to share this with him and both bring next level physiques in 12 weeks time.
