I had a couple breakdowns. One time, I started balling for no reason on my way home from dinner. I'm not talking about quiet tears, gently strolling down my face; I mean baby in a landing airplane wails. I don't know why I said "one time" because this actually happened several times. I want to appologize to Ali, Glen, Maria, Larissa, and anyone else I terrorized.
Three weeks out, I got sever allergic reaction. I am not sure to what, but it could have been the tanning, dieting, or over training. My body likes to be all natural and isn't used to the abuse I was putting it through. After seeing a doctor, who seemed more concerned than myself, I was forced to take 6 days of rest. I was on several strong antihistamines and some oral corticosteroids. I couldn't workout because any time my body heated up I would break into a full blown rash. Anything I ate would also cause my body to break out, so when I did manage to eat, it was only in very small amounts. Showering and changing was unbearable; anything that touched my skin would also cause it to swell up. For 6 days, I couldn't eat, move, work, or stay awake. How is that for your body trying to tell you something?
Two weeks out, I binge ate. Let me explain what happened; I sat down and started with a protein bar, then I ate another one. I was still hungry, so I shoved half a rice cake into a jar of almond butter and ate the entire dripping thing. I did the same thing to the other half. I finished off an entire bag of nuts. I ate my husbands left overs from the night before. I defrosted a few meatballs, a spinach triangle, maybe two, and ate them all with hot sauce. I saw a box of Honey Nut Cheerios and ate that by the fist full. There might have been a few other victims in this massacre, but I plead not guilty. It happens to most on their first competition. Your body is so deprived, you lose control. I probably did more good by giving in, but I could have prevented it. I have been depriving my self since August, my body forced me to take a rest and eat. If I ever do this competition again, I will make sure to incorporate small cheats once a week up until a couple of weeks out.
That night, I did a full hour of cardio and the next morning I went on my favorite 7 mile run. I looked and weighed exactly the same 2 days later. So for any of you who fall off the wagon and are consumed with guilt, let it go. The guilt will do more harm than good. Accept the situation for what it was, give your body the workout it deserves, and get right back on.
That chapter of my life seems to be eons away. I have spent the last week preparing for my show. Every competitor has a different plan at this point, and it depends on their genetics, current body fat, discipline, and training. I don't plan on sharing my secrets right now, because (a) it is specific to me, so I don't want you trying this at home and (b) I don't want other competitors borrowing my tricks.
One thing I can say is that in the last 2 months I have dropped over 15 lbs. A solid 5 to 8 of them I will put right back on after the show because it was simply water weight. This is my smoke and mirrors phase, as Maria likes to call it. Let me outline my week to you, and why I needed to take the entire week of work.
Monday - I spent the morning performing an hour of cardio to burn off any glycogen I was still storing. I went home to eat, sleep and shower, and then I went right back to the gym for a total body workout. I shook the entire time and cried while I did pull ups; just a small example of how crazy I've been.
Tuesday -With still no carbs in my system, I went on a 90-minute run. After a shower and a very, very, tiny meal, I layed in bed for a couple hours. When I got up I had to go get my wax from Sydney's Salon, on Union. I like to go there because they are incredibly thorough with everything they do. Afterwards, was my nail appointment; every detail matters when on stage, down to my long and shiny nails. It's a miracle I have not torn them off yet.
Wednesday - Even less carbs in my system and barely any food, I do 45 minutes of very light cardio. I feel like a robot at this point; just going through the motions and completely numb. I can barely move the rest of the day so I distract myself with cheesy movies, like Zookeeper and Monte Carlo, I love Selena Gomez.
Later that afternoon, I got my pedicure, to match my suit. I also had to make an emergency run to Apple. In the 10 years that I have owned a cell phone, I have never broken one, dropped it in water, scratched it or damaged it in any other way. This last month, I turned my phone into a weapon by dropping it so many times every part of it became shattered glass. The moment I showed the Apple guy my phone, his eyes popped open, he grabbed a bag to throw my phone into and demanded I go wash off any shards still on my hands. I got a brand new phone for free.
Thursday - I feel useless. It took every ounce of energy to shower and eat my tiny excuse of a meal. Today I get my first spray tan. If you've never been spray tanned, like myself, you might be uncomfortable stripping down to your birthday suit, putting on a shower cap, stepping on sticky shoes, and finally stand like a human canvas while a stranger with a hose sprays you from head to toe with paint. I was terrified of this whole experience, but lucky for me, the famous Glow Queen, Sinead from Couture Glow, personally sprayed me. She explained the entire process and made me feel beautiful and comfortable.
Like an artist, Sinead payed attention to every detail, highlighting my strengths, and making sure her work was perfect before letting me step out. As for the infamous orange glow, I did not see a single sign of it. I look like I spent 2 weeks in Hawaii, and it took less than 20 minutes, with no damage to my skin. I honestly don't know how I got so lucky to have such amazing people holding my hand through this entire process.
Friday - I need to pack and head to Sacramento. I am almost done and I cannot wait to be on stage. I'm not scared, just relieved this is almost over. I feel like I lost myself a bit in this competition and I cannot wait to be myself again. Oh, and eat three pieces of chocolate cake. Mmmmh, cake. Ali is trying to talk me into making a healthier choice for my post-comp meal, tough luck; this picture is what gets me going in the morning.
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