8... going on 16

My daughter is 8... going on 16 and we have quite a few talks that I leave the room thinking where in the world did she come from??!!??  Since I am competing again I have noticed her little comments concerning me in a bikini, etc.... I get it, it's weird, maybe even a little bit embarrassing for her but I feel like maybe she doesn't fully understand what it is I am doing.  So a couple of weeks ago I sat her down after she had made a few snotty comments to me about competing and had a chat with her.  I explained to her that me competing is in no way something I do to be inappropriate or immodest.  I don't do it so that I can prance around in the tiniest bikini (gah!!!) I can find and get hooted and hollered at.  My friends and family will tell you that I despise wearing bathing suits on any other given day.  I explained to her that for me competing is a sport, a hobby.  I set a goal, and I work REALLY hard to achieve it.  I told her that she should be proud of me for working so hard, not embarrassed.  I had her sit down and look at some pictures from past competitions with me.  I explained to her what the judges are looking at, what they are looking for and what I work so hard for.  I think it helped because last week when my friends were over for dinner I was saying something like "Oh, don't listen to me I'm just a mom" to my son when she piped in and said very proudly "you're not JUST a mom, you're a bikini model!".  LOL!

My suit is finished, and I am SO pleased with it.  I think it is absolutely stunning!  I spent Saturday working on it with my sister.  I finally sent in my registration papers... which means I am officially stepping on stage Oct 13th!  Eeeeks!  I never feel like it is really real until I mail the registration papers in.  I will post pictures of my suit this week!  Love this part of it, getting close to peak week!  Whoop!

TWO....

Well... here it is about two weeks out from my next competition.  TWO WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!  I am getting really excited.  I feel like I am making good progress and I am really enjoying the program I have been using.

Here are my progress pics at 3-ish weeks.  Be nice.  I'm whiter than snot.  I should have gotten a little tan before this event took place but eh... here I am!  The photographer was my daughter (hubby of course is out of town, next time they will be better pics), who was TOTALLY disgusted with me and that is apparent in the fact that every picture is blurry.  I blame her, wanting to get the heck out of there... and at the same time I don't blame the poor kid!  I feel like things are going well.  I don't want to get too much into my diet right now because I am taking a completely different approach this time around then I have ever used and I am sort of "testing" it out.  I will talk about it more after the show when I can really see if it was beneficial to me and my placing is good.  I am hoping that by taking this route my post show will not be nearly as rough.  Only time will tell but so far... so good!  Obviously I have some tightening up to do... some leaning to do but a lot of that happens in the last couple of weeks so I feel and HOPE that I am on track and will come in looking better than ever.

For this show I have a new suit... which isn't quite finished yet but I think it is going to be gorgeous.  It's a bright blue, and was made by a local competitor Heidi Patterson of Lucky Buuns Bikinis.  She was able to get this made pretty fast and on not a lot of notice (thank you Heidi).  I opted to stone it myself (wish me luck) so when it is finished I will post pictures!

PHEW!!!!!

My plan of getting pictures taken this weekend didn't happen.  I do have a good reason though.  I weighed in and was down 2 pounds... YAY, then the next day up 4... WHAT?!? On top of that I have been nauseous for days, tired (exhausted), bloated, crampy, GRUMPIER than anyone should ever be allowed to be (sorry family), emotional, and extremely clumsy.  I knocked down a banana display at the grocery store, still don't have a clue how or what happened and while trying to fix my mess just kept making it worse, then I immediately dropped my wallet at the checkout stand where money, cards, coins just went flying everywhere.  That was almost enough to bring me to tears.  I started doubting myself for the first time in this whole process.  Feeling very unprepared and so not ready to be on stage in 4 weeks.  So I did what anyone in my shoes would have done, I took a pregnancy test. Yes I did... and guess what?!?!?!?!

It was NEGATIVE.  Ha ha.  PHEW!  I have to admit I was a little nervous for a minute.  Then guess what happened... the very next day I started my period.  EARLY.  That explains a few things.  So... I will likely take some photos tonight.  I will have them up this week sometime.  I promise.  Now that I have shared way too much information I will leave you with these....

Errr... hi......

I'm not doing very well am I?

I promised progress photos at 6 weeks out, didn't I?

But somehow something got mixed up.  You see math was never my subject... and well that 6 weeks I thought I had turned into 5 weeks... and now I am inching closer to 4 weeks out.  FOUR.  F-O-U-R.  Oh. My. Gosh.

So here I sit... PROMISING to get some 4 week progress photos...

I am not very good at this.  BUT... I want to be better and that has to count for something right?!?

Things are going well though.  I am having my suit made as we speak.  I am about to start ordering tanning products, registering for the show and all that fun stuff.  I am feeling good about the progress I have made.  Of course I always feel it could be better.  I plan to start adding in a second cardio session next week.  I can't believe that last year the only prep I did was diet and cardio.  I didn't touch a dumbbell for over 3 months.  I just can't believe that.  This time around I am hitting the weights, feeling tighter, leaner and SO much better all around.  Such a completely different approach for me and I hope it pays off!  Photos this weekend.  Swear.