Outcome of the Bikini Competition!

WOW!
What an amazing experience. At various times during the competition I was excited, nervous, hungry, bored, and sore. That pretty much describes the experience, minus a whole lot of details. The evening before the show I, along with about 100 ladies, were checking in at a mandatory hotel meeting. Suits had to be checked, NPC cards needed to be purchased, height taken, CD of pictures could be purchased, and event instructions and flyers were disseminated. In between all the crazy stuff that was going on I also had to be spray tanned that evening. I got back to my hotel room about 9pm, and at sleep by 10pm.

In the morning, there was a meeting at 9am about how we girls would walk onto and exit the stage. Afterwards, all of us ladies would basically sit around and wait for our turns to go on stage. I took time to practice my posing routine, read National Geographic Magazine, listen to my iPod, get spray tanned again, meet and chat with other women, and eat at timed intervals.

The morning show was very long and drawn out. Time couldn't go by fast enough. I waited and waited and waited. However, the evening show flew by. The women and I had a lot of fun chatting and laughing, and sharing tips and information. I mostly gathered information since it was my first show. The women I spoke to were fun and a joy to be around.

I entered two competitions, the Masters 35+ and the Unlimited Bikini Class B (height 5'1-5'2 1/2"). I did not place in the Masters 35+. However, my husband, mother, and people sitting next to them couldn't understand why. In the Unlimited Bikini class B I placed 5th and took home a trophy. The Unlimited Bikini was a tougher class because the ages included 20+. The gals on stage were all in there 20's or early 30's. I may or may not have one a trophy if there had been more than 5 women. There were only 5, so by circumstance I would get a trophy anyway.

Between the Prejudging and the Evening Shows I changed posing suits! In the prejudging contest I had an all black suit on. It was pleasant, but not really dazzling. In the second show, I tried on a suit I just happened to see at the event and purchased it on the spot, and wore it for the evening show. The other women competitors were so supportive. Once they saw the suit on, they said I needed to "trash" the black suit and put this suit on. They said that it was too bad that I hadn't worn it for the prejudging show and that the outcome may have been very different if I had. Lesson learned.

Here are some pictures from the evening show. Enjoy!

                                                 (Above): Me and my 20 year old competition!

                                     (Above): My competitors in the Unlimited Bikini Class: Any age.

                                                  (Above): After the show with my 5th place award.

                                                            (Above): After the show

This last picture was taken at home last night after having just finished a child's size vanilla shake from In & Out and Taco Bell Tacos!

My last workout

Tonight is normally a night off from exercising. Since I will not be working out on Friday and Saturday before the competition I thought I would squeeze one last cardio kickboxing workout in before the big day. I had a wonderful workout with Paul Daniels. I love his kickboxing class. I feel like it works every part of my body, but just in a different way than a kettlebell workout.

I am getting nervous about Saturday's competition. I am excited, nervous, and in that weird place of "am I really going to do this". It's the place of the unknown. However, I am sure about one thing. My intention is to give it my all on stage. I came this far, why shy away from my few moments on stage. However I look, it is what it is, and I will give it my all.

Tonight after blogging I will pack my bag with make-up, hairdryer, 2 suits, robe, shoes, ipod shuffle, and every other incidental I can think of. Tomorrow night at 7pm I will be sprayed with a tanning solution. I can't believe how fast D-day is approaching.

It's strange to think that 4 months ago I started this journey, determined, committed, and excited. You've experienced some of my ups and downs throughout. It's been a wonderful experience to share my thoughts and feelings along the way, especially when I tend to be quite a private person with those thoughts and feelings. However, my hope is that whomever is reading this blog has enjoyed the process like I have.

I will continue to blog about the competition day and the aftermath. I am sure those days will be just as interesting as the past 4 months. I'll be curious myself!

If I don't get a chance to blog tomorrow, wish me luck. I'll be back by Monday blogging...if not sooner!

Happy Halloween!
RsmKettleGirl@gmail.com

My competition this weekend

I apologize for not posting for the past week. I've been crazy busy, and I have not had a chance to relax and sit down at the computer and blog.

This Saturday is my competition. Today I had my "officially" last workout with Paul Daniels at http://www.bodywarehouse.com/. What a fantastic coach! I can't say enough about his committment, care, and quality. If you ever get a chance to be coached by him, he is well worth the time. It wouldn't matter where you are in your process of transformation, he is easy to be around, and you will feel so comfortable being coached by him.

Tomorrow night I'll probably go to one last session of cardio kickboxing at Cal Elite in Rancho Santa Margarita. Then, that will be it for me until the competition on Saturday.

I have trained hard, practiced my posing, and I am definitely ready to compete. I am nervous about how I will do on stage. I don't have a clue as to how I will feel, but it's just one of those things you just move through inspite of the fear.

This past week I have been exfoliating my body to prepare the skin to be "painted tan" for the stage. I have practiced my routine most evenings in front of the mirror. I can feel myself feeling suddenly nervous talking about it.

Friday night I will be in San Diego for a brief mandatory meeting and check in and to get painted. I will sleep with the new tan color on my skin, then I will go back in the morning and get touched up again.

I will keep you updated, if not Friday, certainly, right after the competition.

RsmKettleGirl@gmail.com
http://bikinicompetitor.blogspot.com/

Monday Workout Blues

I didn't want to blog about my workout blues on Monday at Kettlebell with Paul. However, I thought perhaps it could benefit some people if I expressed the feelings and thoughts I was going through during my workout.

It was a tough workout emotionally for me. I had been having some personal issues at home recently and my emotions have been bottled up and I, self restrained. Workouts can be tough with this type of "baggage", because if I put very little energy into my workout I get very little in return. However, if I workout with gusto, then I'll probably fall apart crying.

So of course I fell apart crying during the rest periods. I still have 1 1/2 weeks to go until the competition and I could not afford to waste a workout.

It would be one thing if I was working out alone. Paul Daniels (http://www.bodywarehouse.com/) was training me that day, so there I was sobbing in between sets. I was a big ball of emotions. Even though it would have been nice to go through this emotional upheaval without anybody around, Paul was absolutely fabulous about keeping my workout going, being funny at times to lighten the mood, and just being his calm self.

Gosh. I can think of so many times in my past where I could have said I'm not working out, I'm going to relax and have a nice cup of hot cocoa, but the fact is that these emotions needed to be expressed, and exercise is truly one of the best ways I know of to get it all out.

Yesterday, I weighed myself. 109 lbs. I'm so excited that I dropped below 110 lbs. I might be able to reach 108 for the competition. If I don't that is okay.

RsmKettleGirl@gmail.com

core strength

It's not a little secret that people don't know if they workout with kettlebells...but kettlebell workouts amazingly increase core strength. I'm in the home stretch of my bikini transformation, and I can now hold a plank for several seconds and for several times. I can do 4 pull ups now unassisted! It's amazing. Doing pull ups may not be everybody's desire, but I have wanted to be able to do pull ups for a long time without any assistance. To be able to pull my body weight up to clear my chin is truly amazing, since months ago I couldn't even do 1/2 of one.

I hope that kettlebell becomes mainstream, because I think it will cut down on how long people spend in the gym working out, how much strength they will increase, and how nice it transforms the body without looking bulky.

RsmKettleBell@gmail.com

make up pictures

Here are a few pictures of me with adding the dark foundation and make-up for the show. I was practicing. I will make the foundation darker if I need to depending on how dark the rest of my body is for the show. My hair is not styled very well in the pictures. I have my earings on and the suit I will wear for the show. I was going to use the purple suit, but the rear looks better in this suit. Why is it that it has to be black! I'm so tired of black. However, fit is very important to the judges.

After the Competition

This is a good time to start thinking about what how I will eat and exercise after the competition. Getting ready for the competition is very similar to getting ready for are reunion, in that the goal is working towards a specific event for one specific day.

While my goal over the past 1 1/2 has been to just get into shape and be consistent, I can't lose sight of the fact that I am still working towards a goal on one specific day. If I hadn't had this competition coming up then I would be more relaxed about the process and progress on a daily or weekly basis. Here I am with about 2 1/2 more weeks to go until the competition and my nutrition program is pretty rigorous. The exercise program is too.

Envisioning my day to day lifestyle after the competition is important. I will not just allow myself to slip into old habits of not focusing on the quantity, the quality, and the frequency of food I ingest.

Instead I imagine myself eating pretty much the same way on a day to day basis, with the exception of eating the same foods as the family at dinner time. Also, I like the idea of sharing one meal more often with my family. If we go out to eat, I can share one meal with our two daughters. Nowadays, the quantity of food that is put on a plate at a restaurant is so out of proportion to what we need to eat that it would be very easy to share with them and save money. Kids usually are given the fattiest and most unhealthiest options anyway on a restaurant's menu that it will be an excellent choice to share.

I will continue to bring my own food whenever I go to our children's birthday party invites. Choosing smaller meals off the appetizer menu and varying the restaurants I eat at is important. Taste and variety are very important to feeling satiated.

On the other hand, exercise is equally as important. I'll probably maintain a 5 day a week exercise program with 2 days off consistently. Throughout most of the 4 months I have been taking only 1 day off per week. I'll continue kettlebell most definitely! It is by far the number one exercise program for building a strong core, developing lean muscle tone and definition, and doing it in a short amount of time.

I have my eye set on a possible second competition in December. We'll see how the first competition goes. If I enjoy it, I may do the December 4th competition. It will keep me focused and allow me to make some body changes that I couldn't have done in this competition. I'll also have to see whether or not I like the bikini competition. I had always had my mind set on the fitness or figure competition, so I'll just have to wait and see how this one goes.

I have reached my 110 lb goal!
Now, I'll just see if I can drop 1 1/2 lbs before October 30th. If I don't, I'm not really worried about it. If I do, it will be icing on the cake!

RsmKettleGirl@gmail.com