My First Bikini Competition...
Once upon a time there was a fitness enthusiast named Melisa….she worked out often and kept her diet pretty clean and thought to herself…
“Hey, Melisa – you already exercise and diet; wouldn’t it be fun to try to do a bikini competition?”
This is how the story in my head started…..I believed I was already doing the work, why not make this a goal. I looked online for a coach and picked one out of my two choices who both believed in flexible dieting which I figured would suit my style well.
The thought of standing on stage made me literally feel like puking – I asked if we could train and diet like I was going to compete but stated I was still a bit nervous to fully commit. So we began the 12 week out of prep…..
Diet was fine – pretty much ate my normal meals, just some minor adjustments.
Exercise was fine – just a little different split and an extra workout day (6 days a week)
Cardio was 6xs at 45 min – Yuck – who likes cardio???? But I was going to do what I needed to do.
First month was doable – progress was steady, still felt sick in the stomach thinking about standing on stage in a bikini but would quickly dismiss these thoughts as they arose.
6 weeks out check in – the nightmare begins…..
At this point I told myself – you are either in or not…..so I made the commitment no matter how scared I was, there was no turning back. Bought my suit, registered for the comp, booked my hotel, reservations, etc all on that day so I couldn't back out. Told my coach I was all in and then I received my new plan.
Exercises changed a little – some referenced “the machine I showed you by the window” which I figured was a cookie cutter program since we never met. But it was fine – It was new to me.
Diet – from hell consisted of Tilapia, Asparagus, Cashews, Romaine Lettuce, Vinegar and no salt on anything. These were my choices – every day – even for breakfast. My highlight of the day was when I go to eat my 12 cashews – roasted no salt of course. I had one cheat meal the entire 6 weeks. (one parfait cup)
Cardio was increased to 2 sessions – one fasting 1 hour and one post workout 30 min HIIT. Yikes – mind you I was 115# and pretty lean. I was questioned often by competitors at my local gym to why I was doing so much cardio when I was already so lean. Since I was all in – I was going to follow what my coach told me to the letter. She said to eat this, I ate – she said to workout like this – I did – tan – done – supplements, ordered….When I had a feeling it wasn’t right for me I still followed my instructions.
Week 1 of 6 was rough but…okay I got this…Into 5 weeks out, I was struggling. I made a countdown and put it on my wall so each day I could pull off and see how many days I had left. 4 weeks out I didn’t know if I could make it – started a journal and wrote how miserable I was and if I ever thought of doing this again to read this “ITS NOT WORTH IT! YOU ARE MISERABLE!” 3 weeks out I hit a breaking point – I was hungry, tired, weak, my legs would cramp every night due to lack of salt, I felt frail (started wearing long sleeves because I was embarrassed at how thin I became), I emailed my coach to let her know that I was struggling and about to have a meltdown. I was hoping for some encouragement…”you got this” “almost there” “it’s common to feel this way” – unfortunately I got a “this lifestyle is not for everyone”. I cried, had my melt down and then told myself FCK it and push hard to the end. 2 weeks out there were a few days that I had to sit down between exercises and force myself to get up and move to the next machine. When it was time for cardio I would sit in front of the machine for 10 minutes trying to psych myself up. I was irritable at home and at work and couldn’t wait for it to be over. I got to see my coach for a one on one posing (we did 6 via skype previously) when she saw me she said – oh you are so lean stop doing all cardio…..well that was good news to my ears!!! But a little too late....
1 week out I requested off from work as I couldn’t handle the prep … little did I know that was the least working out I had to do. So instead I stayed home and thought about food all day. Oh yeah, and through the process I became obsessed with watching the food network – desserts shows. I followed all the dessert pages on Instagram and screenshotted all the yummy desserts I couldn’t wait to eat.
Peak weak consisted of water loading and deloading – that’s a nightmare in itself. Also, I was advised to cut your salt like we discussed – WHAT?!!! You told me to cut my salt 6 weeks ago. She apologized and said yes, she thought she was emailing another client – keep salt out. Asked how to reverse diet out of the show as I was concerned that I would rebound. She said don’t worry about that we will talk about it later. (which since I didn’t pay to continue I didn’t get much help - and my rebound is a story in itself)
Finally the morning of check ins arrived – such a whirlwind from picking up packet, competitors meeting, learning where to walk in from, where to stand, where to exit and how it would differ from the night show. Check in with coach as she said my meal would change that night and appointment to get spray tanned.
I got the go ahead to have fish with soy sauce and lots of rice and eat some cookies and pop tarts then take a picture before I went to bed….Hallelujah I get to eat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I barely slept as my nerves were getting the best of me – I also set my alarm by mistake for my makeup appointment 1 hour too soon and drove to her hotel until I realized the time. (it was at 3 am – not 4 am) :(
Went back to the hotel and laid down for a bit and got back up to drive again to get my make up done. Went back to get retouch tan at 6am since I didn’t realized brushing my teeth that the water splashed up my arms and made spots. Morning show at 9 – but we had to wait around till our class got called. Laid on the ground with feet up and was able to eat more poptarts and cookies for breakfast – Yum double yum!! Everyone was in their little groups – some lying down, some practicing posing, some pumping up….Throughout the whole prep I had set the goal to place but by show day I didn’t even care. I just wanted this day to be over and I wanted to eat. I wasn’t even nervous any more – I was just over it!!
30 minutes up – coach says to pump….What do I do?? I just looked at the other girls and copied them. Finally it was our turn – we lined up and stood side stage. I’m next…..saw the crowd, reminded myself of all my cues - chest up, twist, pivot and weight on back leg, arch back, etc…but as soon as I they called my name and I walked out – BLACK OUT. Fortunately I had practiced my routine a lot because I blacked out and didn’t remember any cues. I felt my legs shaking and feeling like I had a fake smile the whole time. (In the videos you could not tell, but I was very scared) I was supposed to keep moving when I was in the back line up but I was so nervous I just stood there with my hand on my hip. A deer in headlights.
Finally done and able to eat and sleep – I got to eat half of my chicken breast, rice and broccoli and still only sipping water. I laid down and took a little nap after lunch and then got ready for the night show. This time I was so much more at ease – got to eat more cookies, prejudging was over, the whole experience was almost over….went through the whole waiting, and practicing, and pumping and then did routine once again before they announced winners. This time my routine went a lot smoother – still nervous but not as bad with the lights low, music on and a lot more in the audience. Got to see my family sitting in the audience and got to wave at my sons after my routine. Luckily I placed 3rd…at least I got a trophy for all my agony. :) But really – I learned A LOT and as miserable as I was I would go through it all again just for the lessons I learned…..So I am :) I still have that journal entry and I did read it. But this time I’m going to do it differently…..
Stay tuned for Part II…..