Basic to Bikini: Week three – staying on track, posing + first family event

Wowee – what a week! I’m not naïve enough to believe this prep was going to come without challenges; I knew life would throw some stuff at me because that’s what it does, I didn’t expect it to come so quickly though. I’ve said it a thousand times, and I’ll say it until the end of time, with whatever you are doing, you have to know your ‘why’.

I had something come up in my personal life in week three that really threw me. I was stressed and upset, and I won’t deny that all I wanted to do was eat junk food to comfort myself. My self-worth had taken a bit of a hit and I was trying to make up for that. I could have easily ate more food than my calories allowed, and I wanted to. But I didn’t. I didn’t because that’s not a healthy coping mechanism. I don’t want food to comfort me – it’s not a therapist – I want it to fuel me. But I’m not here to tell you why food shouldn’t be your coping mechanism, I’m here to tell you how I managed to stay on track. Things will happen in your life, whether you’re prepping for a bikini competition, or achieving some other life goal/lifestyle, things will happen that will tempt you to veer off track (or in some cases, completely throw in the towel). If you don’t know your ‘why’ at times like this, it makes it significantly harder to stick to the plan. That is what helped me to not binge eat when I wanted to. I processed my emotions (also, another crucial part of success) and weighed the pros and cons of giving into my emotions. Would it be the end of the world if I went over my calories one day? Nope. But would it affect my mindset? Yes. I knew what was important to me, and it wasn’t overeating. What’s important to me is making this a successful prep regardless of the end result. I want to finish this knowing I gave it everything I could. Know your ‘why’. Be disciplined – don’t sabotage yourself.

Now.. mindset. If you want to compete, you have to have a healthy mindset. You have to be self-aware and know how things affect you and how you react to certain situations. If you don’t, it’s very easy to spiral into an unhealthy space: battling with body image issues and other health concerns. I have spent a lot of time working on my mindset and understanding my thought patterns. I know how to correct my negative thoughts and maintain a healthy mindset. The reason I mention this is because in week three I was feeling really good about my diet, I was on the right track in regards to rate of weight loss and I felt like I finally knew what I was doing (hallelujah); however, at the end of the week when I checked in with my coach, my rate of weight loss had slowed down. My very first thought (and it was only for a second) was a negative one. Instantly I thought I had done something wrong; I had failed. But it literally was only for a second. In that instant, I told myself this is a long term game. I reminded myself that it is, in fact, normal for weight loss to ‘slow down’. I want to always remain completely transparent with my readers which is why I’m telling you this. You will have lapses in your positive mindset – it is normal. It is how you react to those lapses and subsequent negative thoughts that matters. I am so far out from my competition and this is exactly why I started with my coach so early. No two people will lose weight the same way. This is an ongoing process to ‘fine tune’ my prep season. If you’re considering competing, I 100% recommend starting with a coach as soon as you can. Both yourself and your coach need time to adjust – you need to adjust to the lifestyle and your coach needs time to adjust your plan and discover what works best for your body.

Now, let’s chat posing for a quick second, and I mean quick second because I really don’t know what I’m doing yet. I started posing practice this week and ouch! My back has not felt pain like that in its entire life but that’s the nature of the sport, right? I’ve started stretching regularly to help my spine and back become more flexible because if you’ve had good posture all your life, I can assure you, your body is not ready for what you are about to put it through. So stretch. Often. You need your spine to be as flexible as possible to hit the poses with the least amount of pain. This is the stretching routine I've been following (thank Coach!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS2yFw7T2WY.

The last thing I want to talk about is support from your family and friends. It was my brother’s birthday during week three which marked the first of many family events I will attend during my prep. I took my own dinner and worked a drink or two into my calories. I was never concerned about how my family would react to this because I spoke to them before deciding to compete. It is incredibly important that you ensure your family and close friends are supportive of your decision to compete. Not because you need their approval, but because you are at risk of jeopardising relationships if they don’t understand why you are adopting this lifestyle. You have to make enough sacrifices as it is by competing, the last thing you need is added stress or pressure from deteriorating relationships.

Here’s to week four!