Way Past the Due Date

So, I competed in the NPC Western Regional competition on November 9 & 10. I promised a recap of the show....and then NOTHING! I did not provide said recap...what a liar I am! Here is part 1 of a condensed, way over due recap of my last competition of the season.

errands!!

For this show, I decided that I would take most of peak week off and just "cruise", if you will, into show day. I worked Monday and Tuesday of peak week and I have to tell you, I'm not really sure why I haven't done this same thing before! It was really nice to not have to worry about scheduling meals, workouts, and cardio around my work schedule.

Gotta get your water AND potty breaks in  :)

I was able to run last minute errands without feeling stressed about time constraints and I was able to R-E-S-T. I told Tom that in the future, I am not going to work more than the first two (possibly three depending on the staffing levels at the library) days of peak week.

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As you all know, I have the crappy awesome (insert sarcasm here) luck of having my period almost every time I step on stage. You see where I'm going with this?? Yep, this show was no different. I was literally cursing out my uterus and whining to Tom & The Boss #1 that just ONCE I would like to step on stage without all the womanly functions drama! I was really worried that I was going be heavy, squishy, and/or soft and I was a bit but it wasn't out of control.

The morning of pre-judging

Right before heading to the athlete's meeting

I'm going to be completely honest here, the team (The Boss #1, Tom aka The Boss #2, and myself) really thought I had a chance at top 3 based on the way my physique was coming together Thursday and Friday right before pre-judging started.

Getting ready to head out

During the athlete's meeting, a woman sat next to me and after a few silent minutes, we began awkwardly chatting with one another. It turns out she knew me from my blog & siouxcountry - how cool is that?? Her name was Sheena and she was competing in her first competition. Sheena looked so beautiful and has made some tremendous improvements to her physique with the help of her coach IFBB Fitness Pro Whitney Jones of AZ Pro Physiques. I can't wait to see her on stage again next year.

The incredibly gorgeous Sheena is on the right!

During the time after the athlete's meeting and before stepping on stage, I just tried to be still and get myself ready. I did my makeup...listened to my ipod...glued my fake nails on...read some of my book...listened to more music...and right when I was about to start getting antsy, it was time to start pumping up & slappin' some glaze on.

Class D

Since there were 13 girls in my class, we were separated into two lines. Each line presented itself to the judges and then went to the sides of the stage. As the judges whispered to each other about who they wanted to call forward, I was nervous and slightly queasy. As they began calling numbers (in numeric order as not to give away placings), I crossed my fingers and kept repeating to myself "call 77...call 77..". Suddenly a voice says, "We'd like to see number 77" and I silently screamed "yes" but I kept it cool on the outside.

First call-outs! Jumping for glee on the inside!

The judges took us through a round of quarter turns but didn't move anyone around. I wasn't quite sure if that was a good or bad sign. After the second round of quarter turns, they began asking certain girls to switch places. After the changes, they took us through another round of turns.

I was never moved during the different rounds of turns and as I walked off stage, I was fairly certain I was going to place in the top 3. I wasn't quite sure how close to the middle I was...I sort of thought I and the girl to my left were "the middle" of the line of girls.

Tom aka The Boss #2 and I after pre-judging!

After I had gathered my stuff and went to find Tom, we talked about how we thought things had went. Since Tom was in the audience and could see exactly who was where, he thought "the middle" of the line was not who I had initially thought it was. I still held onto the hope that I was top 3 but we agreed that we would look at the pictures he had taken and dissect them over the burger I had been told I could have!

I'm going to stop here...I don't want to squeeze EVERYTHING into one post...

Up next...my photo shoot and where I exactly ended up placing....stay tuned!

Santa Baby!

I've been naughty this year but I'm really crossing my fingers that Santa brings me some of the things I put on my Christmas Wish list!

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And the one thing I really really really hope to get is......

This physique!!!

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What about you? Have you been naughty or nice this year? What are you asking Santa for??

New Release Tuesday

I wasn't sure how I would feel about this new song...y'all remember how I felt about "Girl On Fire" when she performed it live, don't you? Well, this was nothing like that experience! While I don't love the video, I diggin' the song! I especially love the line "‎"Don't need your opinion...I'm not waitin' for your okay..." - can I get an amen??

A Day of Silence

If you would like to donate to the United Way of Western Connecticut 

in honor of the victims and their families, you may do so here.

Thanks to Carrian Cheney of Oh Sweet Basil for starting this effort 

and to Nike Peterson of Nike Peterson Designs for the above graphic.

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; 

they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, 

and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint."

Isaiah 40:31

I Keep It Real

I received an email from a reader and a few lines in the email really stood out to me. She wrote,

"I have to tell you that I really enjoy your blog and

 I enjoy it for several reasons. You are real. 

You don't sugar coat, you don't pretend.

 I especially love the pictures of your workouts that you share. 

You aren't made up or glamorous. 

You're just you."

When I started writing this blog two years ago, I knew that this would be a place where I shared what was going on in my life whether it was good, bad, ugly, or fugly. In my "real life", I try to be as honest and bullshit-free as possible and I wanted my blog to be an extension of that. 

I have talked about the positives of prep and also the negatives. I've shared with you my insecurities, my frustrations with competing, my accomplishments, my dreams & goals. I have shared these things because I want you to know me, my journey, my path in its truest form. Yes, I may not write about everything (positive and/or negative) that's going on in my life but y'all get a pretty good amount of it :)

As for the line about the pictures from my workouts, I am not about being cute when I go to the gym - bottom line. I will make sure that my clothes match and that my elbows & knees are not ashy but that's really as good as it gets. However, there are exceptions to this! If you were to run into me at the gym during my lunch hour, I would probably have eyeshadow & mascara on B-U-T that's because I put it on for work, NOT the gym :)

The gym, for me, is serious business. I am there to work and I don't need to look cute to do that. I'm a sweaty, grunting, frowning beast when I'm in the gym...#sorryimnotsorry. Now, let me make it clear that I am not knocking folks that put themselves together before they go to the gym. If that's your thing, that's awesome. I'm just saying, it's not mine.

With that said, I promise to continue keeping it real - ugly gym pictures, rants about how prep sucks, and random pictures of food and all! :)

*click the picture to enlarge*

New Release Tuesday

I am so in love with this song, it's crazy. It's smooth and sexy...kinda like me....completely kidding..not about it being smooth and sexy...about me being like that...anyway...moving along... :)

I need to learn more about this Miguel fellow because I might start diggin' him like I dig Robin Thicke...just sayin'....

I Am Now A "Baddass"!

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Recently, you may have noticed the appearance of the above whatchamacallit (lol!) in the bottom left hand corner of my blog. If it didn't catch your eye, take a moment to give it a quick glance then bring your eyes back here :)

I am now a featured publisher/blogger on Shareaholic's Fitness Channel! I am so excited about the opportunity for my blog posts to appear on this channel with some really incredible, motivating FitFluential bloggers. Check out Shareaholic's blog post officially welcoming the FitFluential bloggers here.


So...you might be thinking to yourself..."ok...but that doesn't explain the whatchamacallit..??" The whatchamacallit or Shareaholic button will allow you, the awesome readers of my blog, to share my blog posts quickly...from anywhere...with anyone you would like! You can share posts using services like Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress, Google Mail, and more. It is my hope that, if you read something here that you think others might benefit from or enjoy, you will share it with them using the Shareaholic button!

Let's get into some workout & training fun, shall we??

Last week, I tried another supplement sample from the November Muscle & Fitness sample box that I received. The sample was the Pre & Post Workout Drink from Baddass Nutrition. I was really excited to try this sample because I saw their booth at the Olympia Expo but there were a bazillion people in line so I never got close enough to pick up a sample or talk to one of the folks working the booth.  

The directions state to take this pre-workout supplement 15 minutes before your workout on an empty stomach. My drive from home to the gym is about 20 minutes so I didn't add the mixture to my water and drink it until I had been on the road a little more than 5 minutes. The fruit punch flavor of the pre-workout drink was subtle and I can happily say it did not taste one bit like Hawaiian Punch! The powder did mix fairly well with water but there was a layer at the bottom of my shaker bottle when I had finished the drink. I think I am to blame for that as I didn't stir the mixture as long as I normally would have - I was trying to mix the drink while getting my workout stuff ready while getting out of the door on time.

I felt very strong while using this supplement - not She Hulk strong but Tenecia 2.0 strong :) It did give me a boost of energy that, in my opinion, spiked at the beginning of my workout and maintained at a consistent level throughout my workout. I am really happy that I tried this supplement when doing my back workout because my body didn't tire out on me and I felt like I could push myself a bit harder than I normally would have. Operation Build-A-Back is still in effect so every strong, I think I'm going to throw up workout is a plus.

The post-workout component of this stack is grape flavored and is tasty! It reminded me of the grape Glutalean that I love so dearly. According to the Baddass website, the "Stack Post contains CarnoSyn, to delay muscle fatigue as well as BCAA's, which aid with muscle repair. You tear it down, so you can rebuild it even stronger the next time."

Again, this is one of the best things about the Muscle and Fitness Monthly Supplement Sampling Program, you can try & learn about products and figure out if they are a thumbs up (like this one!) or a thumbs down (like Universal Shock Therapy) without spending a large amount of money to do so. I'm definitely digging the products from Baddass and will definitely order from them in the near future.

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I have to leave you with this excerpt from the home page of Baddass Nutrition's website - it's awesome and I'm pretty sure it confirmed my love for this new company & its products!

"YOU GET CALLED CRAZY A LOT.

Crazy is just a name the lazy use to describe the dedicated. One more rep is the difference between an average and an excellent workout, and one more rep (or five, or six) is exactly what

 BADDASS Nutritional supplements give you. 

BADDASS helps you train harder, longer, better. 

Some people need others to tell them who they should be. 

Some people already know. 

You know. 

You Are BADDASS."




Disclaimer:
I received these products free of charge and was given no compensation for this review.
All opinions expressed are my own.