I competed in my first show this past weekend, October 27 at the NPC Texas State Championships. I weighed in at 162.5, which put me as a heavyweight. I won first place in my weight class, which also qualified me to compete in a national show. I have until the end of 2009 to use it before it's lost.
Preparing for this show and then competing has definitely been an experience. I'm not sure that bodybuilding is for me. I was pretty sure before the experience that competing really wasn't my thing, but was told that I should give it a try to make sure. At least now I can say that I have done it. Ummm....been there, done that, got the trophy, and now I'm over it! There is still a possibility that in the future I may do it again....but that is not before a year or more.
I am considering competing in powerlifting. I think that is more along the lines of what I love....lifting and strength! Although, I would want to stay more on the leaner side. But for now, I'm just letting my body recover and slowly getting back to my workouts. I can't wait to be 100% again and hitting the weights hard!
I'm finally able to enjoy 'normal' food! It has been wonderful! I've had pizza, some mexican food, chocolate, brownies, cheesecake, pancakes, and a few other samplings. Although, I'm still experiencing the 'rebound' (my body adjusting to regular food)....which is quite miserable. Hopefully within the next week or so my body will level out and things will be back to normal.
This week I started my 'structured diet' and workout routine. I've changed up my cardio a bit. So many people disagree with how much cardio I'm doing. But right now I want to make sure I do not gain an excess of bodyfat. As I feel things are leveling out, I can back off of the cardio as needed. For now, I have scheduled myself 3 weekly morning cardio sessions of 40 minutes and then 4-5 weekly 20 minute sessions after my weight lifting in the evenings. I finally braved the scale yesterday....weighed 174. Not too bad at all...that puts me 12 pounds more than I was at contest weigh-ins and 20 pounds less than I was before contest prep started back in June.
I'm back to keeping a lifting journal of each day's workout. I haven't done it in several years. It helps to keep you more focused on increasing your weights/strength when you can see exactly what you did the week before and push to beat it! I'm looking forward to watching my strength increase....which means the mass will soon follow!
