NGA October 2014

Ahhhhhh!!!! Suuuuch a fun show for me!! I took 1st place in my class (medium bikini novice) and 1st place Overall Bikini Novice!!!!!! I can't believe it!! I feel so so so blessed. I felt like I had a great team behind me. I had my mom to help me backstage (and with EVERYTHING leading up to the show), I had Tamara Watt to teach me posing, nutrition, training, how to be graceful, and everything in between, and I had Krissy Wolfe to do my tan, hook me up with a bikini (the red was a last minute decision a couple minutes before the show and I think it was my favorite one yet!), keep me pumped up backstage and give me pep talks! Not only that, but I have my FCDB team supporting me. Plus, I get to compete with one of my best friends (Hannah Gregory) and I had a lot of my friends (and my brother) in the audience cheering me on. This show was unreal. I am so happy. Taking first place just motivates me to be more than I am. This is only the beginning for me. Not sure what show I want to do next, but I know that bigger and better things are coming. 

There is no off season for me. Just maybe a liiiiittle less intense. :) 

LET'S GET IT, BABY!!!!  

You know what time it is ;) 

I think this picture pretty much sums up how I feel backstage. Hahah soo nervous and focused. 

These pep talks from Krissy are great. 

Tamara and Jeremy Watt. Save Fitness Utah 

Nope not in pain. No, not nauseous. Just getting my suit glued to me. hahaha thanks for holding my bum, Hane. 

Some of my amazing team! Hannah, Krissy, and Tami! 

nervously clapping for the girls before me. hahaha 

NPC October 2014

You Win Some, You Lose Some. 

And that's okay! 

That's how it should be!! 

If I got first place in every show, I don't think I would enjoy this sport quite so much.

But like.. maybe one first-place trophy would be nice... Hahahah 

No but really, I am so happy with my accomplishments.

Whether I place or not, I'm proud of myself. 

I won't lie, I was a little bit frustrated with some of the judging. 

I was only frustrated because you just can never know what to expect. 

At my last show, the same judges picked very very muscular girls. 

I placed 5th in that show, and when I looked at pictures, I knew that I needed to put on more muscle.

So I spent the last few months doing that. 

Same judges....

Different show...

And apparently different preferences. 

Some of the girls were very muscular, but most of the winners were very lean (in my opinion). 

YOU JUST NEVER KNOW. 

But here are some things I took away from this show:

*ALWAYS come in with your personal BEST. 

*I won't try to conform to what the judges like. I like a lot of muscle on my frame. I like super round shoulders. I like ABS (still workin on those hehe). I like the way the IFBB pros look. And I'm going to keep trying to put on muscle and come in really tight and as shredded as possible for these shows. Some days that may be what the judges are looking for, some days it wont. 

*My body responds really well to carbs on competition day. I felt like I looked better for the night show, than I did for the prejudging.. because I ate a baked potato in between. Good to know, for this next show. Might want to eat a baked potato before the morning show! 

*It's so much easier when you have friends there. I have my girl Hannah who was competing with me. I've also built a lot of relationships from this whole experience and I'm so grateful for each one of them. It makes it all a lot more fun. 

*The most important thing is to not take it too seriously, and to stay positive even if you don't place! 

I have another chance this weekend at the NGA show. Some of the same judges will be there. I'm loading my water again (after dropping it for the last show). I won't lie... it is more of a challenge the second week in a row. And it was reeeaaaally hard not to pig out after that last show. This week feels like a complete blur so far... and it's only Wednesday! Haha I'm just hoping my body will drop the water the way I want it to! This show will be so much fun and I feel a lot more relaxed now after doing the other one! :)

Let's GET IT! 

Strawberries: one of my favorite pump-up foods. 

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Another favorite pump-up food :) Believe it or not, my body responds well to them! 

Rice cakes! As weird as it sounds... these are probably my favorite pump-up food. They taste SO good on show day. Probably because my body is starved for carbs! Put a little natural peanut butter on there and I feel like a million bucks! 

Hannah Gregory! One of my very best friends! She did great! She'll be competing this weekend as well!! 

Game Time. 

Yes I know my face looks lighter than my body. And yes you have to be orange. 

Love when my mama takes these candid shots :) 

My girl Kami! 

My biggest supporters <3

Peak Week!

   Here we go!! It's the beginning of peak week! Like I've said before, I LOOOVE peak week! It's the most fascinating thing to me! Your body changes so much in this one week! For people who don't know what peak week is... it's the week of your competition. For me, it means leaning out that last little bit. It means drinking tons of water at the beginning of the week (2 and a half gallons) and then cutting to only 1/2 gallon by the end of the week! Doing that really makes your muscle show. It's also a weird week because you only train at the beginning of the week, and your workouts are a little lighter than usual. You also don't train legs this week (as a bikini competitor, your legs will hold more water if you train them this week, and you typically want your legs to look very lean). The diet is also a little different, lower sodium at the end of the week so you wont retain water. And then of course, the spray tan ties everything together and makes your muscle really show! It's just really cool to me that your body can change so much over a week!

   Like I mentioned last week, I've been sick. What I thought was a head cold, actually has turned out to be strep throat. It kind of puts a damper on things, and makes it a liiiittle harder to find energy to train... but I'm determined to stay on track, get lots of rest, and still bring my best self to the show! :)

This describes how you feel as a bodybuilder perfectly: