Becoming She-Ra

As promised, this is the recap of my last six months training for a Figure Competition. The last four days I have almost felt lost.. the pressure from training is off my shoulders but trying to figure out how to continue progressing and not lose what I have worked so hard for is a little daunting. 

I guess I should start at the begining, "Before" pictures are quite depressing to take.. But I am glad I had them so I could see the progress I made along the way!   

The next little table shows the composition change of my body during this process.

                 Start of Program              Current Week                Total Loss/Gain

Weight          151.6 lbs.                         133.4 lbs.                        -18.2 lbs.

Body Fat       32.5%                             16.3%                              -16.2%

Fat Mass       49.27                             21.74                                -27.53 lbs.

Lean Mass    102.33                            111.66                               +9.33 lbs.

How gross to think I had almost 50lbs of fat on my body! Glad to only have 20lbs now... still would like less but that can be my next goal!

This journey definately required a lot from me. The dedication to following my eating plan to the T and making time for my workouts made my social life a little more dull than it normally is :S  I never liked fish so I really never ate it before now too. But the last month leading up to competition day I was eating fish and asparagus 5 times a day... so I am glad that I learned to  like it  at least not gag everytime I ate it :)

Some of the highlights from the week of competition prep include:

• Only having to work 3 days that week Monday- Labor day and Friday-dehydration makes one crazy!
• Wrapping myself in saran wrap to sweat while I sleep
• Having to shave every single hair from my body to be spray tanned!
• Being spray tanned!!! oh gosh!
• Dehydrating....
• Sitting in a sauna the last day just to sweat the rest of the water out of me.
• Sleeping with my legs in the air the night before to drain all the fluid out of my legs!
• Having to pee through a dixie cup to not splash my spray tan! LOL that was dang funny!
• Going to Wal*Mart to get make up to match my new skin tone! (I hope I get on the website of ppl @ Wal-mart)
• Eating a breakfast of real buttermilk pancakes the morning of  :)



Driving there

• Having Aub there with me for all the funniness and making me beautiful for stage! LOVE YOU AUB

The directions to the Venue were way wrong from mapquest so we got lost... asked some little farm couple for some help and found our way. Check-in was very anti climactic! They gave me a name card and my # and sent me to pick a mat.  They had a little hard blue mat for each of the competitors! I was super intimidated by the other girls and felt like I didn't quite look like I should be there!  We hung out for a long time waiting for pre-judging to begin and then it seemed like we were rushing to be ready for my turn on stage! So much adrenaline and all I could do was breathe and think "all the work is done, now all you can do is get up there and show them what you've done"  Once I stepped on stage and hit my first pose, all my nerves vanished. I walked confidently and hit the poses I have been practicing for weeks and just let it be what it was! Walking off the stage I felt so good, just because I had done it! I had no idea what the judges had decided but I was so happy I could say I really did it!

For the night show we budgeted our time much better to be ready for stage.  I had no worries since the judging was basically already done and the night show is just to strut and then place. I felt very calm and able to enjoy the experience. I had several friends come to support me and that really meant a lot!  I had talked to more of the competitors throughout the day and found out that this was their first show also... so that was nice to know that more of us were at the same level! Getting on stage that night I was so glad I had made the choice to do a show, the day made all the struggles in the last six months worth it!

Alright, now a little photo drop. Mind you the quality of pictures from my ipod are not the best but its what I have right now.

Just to appreciate the tan and how white my teeth look :)

Front Pose

Guns

Relaxed pose

Pumping for Stage

Top 3 !!!

Sandy Aquarium

My sister Michelle and her cute family came to play in Utah for a few days and take the kids to see some fun things while they were here, I took a day off and spend it with them at the Aquarium! it was so fun to see them and check out some of the venues that Utah has to offer.

Aligator!

some fish :)

These are just a few shots, trust me this place has a lot more than these two specimen!!

Some Summer Fun...

We went to the Nephi Demolition Derby a few weeks ago! It was crazy stormy when we got there and tried to run through a sand storm to get up to the gates! So don't judge that our faces are caked with dirt and our hair is rained on and matted :)



Glamor shot... ha after running through the sand storm and rain!




Those of us who braved the storm: Keith, Aub, Kelsey, Me

The cars caught on fire!!!!

photo booth shot

We only look tan because of the dirt on our faces :)

We are in HAWAII :)

I know, I know... Let's not talk about how terribly behind I am in posting about our adventure to Hawaii :)
  My cousin and her husband are in the Army and have been stationed in HI -we feel really bad for them-  Needless to say; their current location and our need for a vacation provided the perfect scenario for all of us to get together!   


Oh how I love the culture of the islands, We were greeted in the air port with fresh flower leis and on Sunday the Relief Society Sister's welcomed us with more.



Analee and I may or may not have taken a billion pictures of ourselves in the car as we drove around the island for days.. this is just one of many :)   Our first excursion day (Monday) we started at Pearl Harbor, I am not much of a history buff but it is very fascinating to me the things that have taken place and shaped the country that we now live in.

                                 

Anchor from the U.S.S Arizona

Flag flying over the Memorial

We're kinda cute

This is because it was Valentine's Day and I was trying to be artsy.

 That wave washed the word away right after I snapped this picture so I was happy to have captured it.

Tueday's events included the Dole Plantation, where I became a pineapple.....

....and found me a local to love!  

"It's a DOLE life"

Then of course, another beach and some boogie boarding! Sadly, while we were out playing in the water the life guards called everyone to come to shore because an agressive acting shark was in the area....I am not as brave as Bethany Hammilton and I'd like to keep my arms.... and legs for that matter!

Wednesday: We hiked Diamond Head it was a tough climb but so beautiful! It overlooks Waikiki and you can see out over the ocean for miles!

The evening we spent at Hanauma Bay Oh my, how I love the beach!  They have you watch a snorkling instruction video just to enter to bay and then you are free to explore as much as you'd like!  

The water here is just gorgeous!

By recommendation, we ate dinner at DUKE'S that night. Of course being in Hawaii I had to try their Ono Fish.. the picture is a little dark but you can still get the idea.

Thursday:  Morning hike to Manoa Falls, the TV show LOST filmed a little in this location, so that was cool. The trail was beautiful and very tropical rain forrest feeling! There were warning signs about wild hogs and the locals warned us about being bitten by any of the bugs because some diseased bugs had escaped from the research center that was in the area :S haha luckily we survived the hike without any major injury.   

The Falls

And , you guessed it another day ended at the BEACH. 

Friday: We made our way around the Laie Temple grounds. I wish we would have had more time to actually go and do a session, I guess I will just have to do so next time I am there :)

Then a quick stop by the famous Hukilau Cafe!

and the rest of the day at the PCC!

We learned how to make fish from banana leaves, watched the canoe parade, attended a luau, watched 'HA breath of life'  and got tattoos :)

As we flew into the Boise airport, this is the scene that greeted us...

(if you can't tell its snow and stormy winter weather)