My Attempt at Balance!

I'm fairly certain that every figure competitor has struggled with finding balance while prepping for a show. Prep, often times, consumes every aspect of your life. Before you know it you have turned into a chicken-eating, protein shake guzzlin', weight lifting, focused, anti-social being!

I have worked incredibly hard to find balance as it pertains to my family but during my last prep, I realized that I was not doing a good job creating balance between prep and my social life. I became aware of the fact that it had been months since I had left the house to hang out with friends some place other than the gym! It had been forever & a day since I had gone to a restaurant with a friend  to enjoy their company & a meal on a plate and not in a plastic Ziploc container. I had sacrificed my friendships (unintentionally but it still happened!!) in pursuit of a top 5 placing and a trophy. Right around the time I decided that this needed to change, my friend Mimi sent me a text asking when she was going to see me. This was the perfect opportunity to get out of the house and spend some time with a friend I sorely missed!

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We decided that we wanted to go some place that we could wear our "fancier" clothes to and after a short text exchange, Union Public House was deemed the spot of our date :) Mimi had been to the restaurant before but I had never heard of it. A lot of new restaurants have opened in Tucson recently and I know nothing about most of them because I have been prepping for the past decade few months.

A little black dress, Jessica Simpson pumps, and a Wonder Woman clutch made out of  duct tape!

We arrived separately and found each other at the hostess' stand. The hostess asked us if we wanted to sit inside or outside on the patio and when we told her that it didn't matter to us, she seemed a bit annoyed. Uhh...sorry..I didn't realize that us letting you decide which open table to fill was an annoyance! We were sat at a table inside and promptly began chatting with each other & catching up.

Mimi told me that the Crisp Pork Belly appetizer was a must so we decided to order that along with the Pub Chips. The appetizers were tasty despite the blue cheese sauce being slightly thick & cold.

Caesar salad with shrimp

Nicoise salad 

For our entrees, I ordered a Caesar salad with shrimp and Mimi decided to go with the Nicoise salad. Thumbs up for the entrees and the booze!

Me & the radiant Mimi!

The service was not what I expected for this particular type of restaurant (we joked that the waitress was scared of me because she would practically run up to our table, ask a question, then run away) but bottom line, I was just happy to see my friend!

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Uh oh! They gave me a hard hat!!

In addition to spending more time with my friends, I am making a conscious effort to do more in terms of giving back & community service. I, along with some of my fabulous co-workers, decided to lend a hand and support Habitat for Humanity's Rainbow Build here in Tucson. Yesterday, we gathered at 6:30 am (goodness, that's early for a Saturday morning!!) and joined with other local volunteers to build a home for a local family.

The home we worked on!

Some of my wonderful co-workers!

We had a wonderful time assisting in building a home for a family that would not have been able to see their dream of home ownership come true if it had not been for the assistance of the Tucson chapter of Habitat for Humanity. At the end of the afternoon, I was exhausted and completely filthy but my heart felt so full.

Just a glimpse of what I looked like at the end of the afternoon :)

Those of us at the build could not help but share with one another how awesome it was to see members of the Tucson community join together for such an incredible cause. I know that I said more than once how I couldn't think of a better way to start my weekend!

For me, balance is about stepping outside of the "figure competitor" shell I often inhabit. It is about ignorning my set eating schedule, not worrying about cardio & workouts, not hitting a pose every time I pass by a mirror. Balance is about spending quality time with the ones I love. It is about  seeing the world that is outside of my treadmill and gym. It is about supporting and serving those in my community. I haven't quite mastered it but the balance I have found thus far feels damn good!!

That's What's Up Thursday

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Can we just take a moment to really

take in this picture?

Pay close attention to the shoulders. Make sure

you R-E-A-L-L-Y look at incredible muscularity

of the quads. Observe the look of confidence on her face

and the Colgate smile.

This woman is a new pro and she is already givin'

the veterans a run for their money! She is just incredible!!

IFBB Figure Pro Kamla Macko - now that's what's up!!

New Release Tuesday

I love all things Linkin Park...but you guys already knew this! You should know that I'm pouting that the band will not be coming to AZ during their U.S. tour but I still love them.

I think my favorite lyric from this song is "Imma be that nail in your coffin...sayin' that I soften...I was duckin' down to reload"...can we say "gangsta"??!?!

You need this song on your "Imma Kill The Weights Today" playlist...no..no...don't thank me... ;)

Reenergized & Ready to Conquer!

The last few weeks have been a bit difficult for me in terms of prepping for my next show. Oh, you didn't know I was prepping for another show??! I must have forgotten to mention that but yep, I'm currently in prep for the NPC Western Regional that will be taking place in Phoenix November 9 & 10.

The prep has been difficult for reasons I have expressed during past preps so I should warn you that I'm going to sound like a broken record here! I shared with you the feedback I received from the head judge at the AZ Open show in my Determined vs Unrealistic post. The p-word or physique was the one word we were trying to avoid hearing and yet, it made an appearance in the head judge's reply to my request for feedback. When Tommy the team made the decision to compete in another show before the year ended, a discussion took place about what would need to be done to make the judges think "figure competitor" not "physique competitor" when they saw me on stage. It came down to one thing - I had to lose muscle.

For those of you who might be newer readers, we've been down this road before. After the 2011 Orange County Muscle Classic, I was told that I would need to come in smaller (less muscular) if I wanted to continue to compete in figure (physique was being introduced at the time). I went back & forth about the sacrifices I would have to make in order to "drop size" but decided that I wanted to do it. I shared that I wanted to be able to look back at this time and say that I did everything in my power in order to be successful. More than a year later, I still feel the exact way.

Competing is a beast. It is not for the indecisive, weak, or faint of heart. At times, you have to make choices that you may second guess later and that's the point that I was at the last few weeks. I was second guessing my decision to sacrifice even more size in order to continue competing in figure. Sacrificing size, for me, means minimal weight training, additional amounts of cardio, and a diet that often lacks flavor & excitement. It doesn't seem like a big deal when you type it out but when you're living it week in and week out, it can break you down.

Last Saturday, I checked in with The Boss #1 and told her that I was not excited about doing this show. I told her that prepping for this show was starting to be a pain in my ass and while I wanted to give it my all, I just didn't feel like I could. I was worried because I could sense that Tom felt like I was not at the point where I should be given the number of weeks until the show. Needless to say, The Boss #1 sent back an email reassuring me that I was right where I needed to be and that we would be switching things up starting this week.

I got my new plan on Saturday night and while the plan doesn't have cake or booze in it (hey, a girl can dream!), it does have me hittin' the weights more than once a week! Can I get a "woot woot"? A shift in my approach to training and tweaking of the diet has resulted in a reenergized, ready to bust out a can of whoop ass Tenecia!

The goal for this next show is to win my class but I will be content placing in the top 3.

I have 8 weeks to make it happen. I'm up for the challenge now. I can do this.

Sweaty & stinky but ready to take on the next 8 weeks!!

Major Recap Fail!!

So, I competed in the two Arizona NPC shows that were held in July. The first one, the NPC Terminator, was held here in Tucson and I recapped that show for you in my Puttin' It Down in My Hometown part 1  and part 2 posts. The second show, the NPC Arizona Open, was held a week after the Terminator show and I promised to share with you my feelings about the show, doing 2 peak weeks in a row, etc.

Except I didn't do that, did I?!?!?

Major recap fail!!

I have no idea how I let so much time pass before realizing I hadn't done it. I should have my blogger pass revoked!

In the meantime, here are some pictures from the show photographer to hold you over until the recap is done  :)

I'll be back with that recap soon - I promise!!

I'm Not One of Them

I was never a cool kid in school. For one thing, I was one of like 4 black kids at every school I attended. Yes, people would ask to touch my hair and often looked to me as the voice of the Black population but that's another post for another time. :)

In high school I played tennis (this was before Serena & Venus so trust me when I say occasionally I got odd looks at tennis camp and tournaments), hung out at the library during lunch & after school, was the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper...shall I go on?? :) I was not cool. I was a nerd and I was totally ok with that.

I'm still not one of the cool kids and the evidence from Facebook, Twitter, and blogs proves it!

Here are some of the reasons why I'm not part of CKG (Cool Kids' Group):

1) I am not a runner. *I will run...if I have to but I do not do it for fun. It's not something I like or even love to do. I can tolerate it but would be perfectly fine to never run another step in my life.

2) I do not shop at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. *I don't get what's so awesome about either one of these stores. I've tried to give them a chance but they're just not for me.

3) I am not a personal trainer. *I love to train but I have no aspirations to become a trainer, work in a gym, and train clients. Remember that whole hanging out in the library thing I talked about? That's exactly why (among other reasons) being a librarian is the perfect job for me.

4) I do not do Crossfit. *It scares me - bottom line.

In all seriousness, there are times when I find myself feeling like that awkward, shy, insecure Tenecia and I don't like it! One day when I was feeling this way, I found a picture (I can't remember where) and it's a great reminder to stop comparing myself to others and just be me!

New Month, A Clean Slate

Holy mother of...it's September! Where did the year go???

Because it's the first of the month and I was just talking to The Boss #1 about this song, it's only appropriate that we all sing along to the song in the video. C'mon, I know you know the words!

And just to remind you that it's a new month with a clean slate, I will leave you with one of my favorites :)