9 weeks and counting...

9 weeks! That is the amount of time left until my first bodybuilding contest. I could lie and say I am not worried about it, but truth is, there is not one day that has passed in the last few months where it has not crossed my mind at least once. So far, everything seems to be going OK. I had one minor setback on my first body composition test after the holidays, but ended up losing that and a lot more during this last test. The stats so far, 192 lbs (with clothes, so we usually go with 3lbs less), 7.9% body fat. That means I have 9 weeks to drop another 5 or so percent of my body fat in order to be ready for the stage.

I read a cool quote the other day, which made perfect sense to me, "Bodybuilding is not about who works the hardest, but who does what is right." Physically, I belive we can all bust our butts at the gym and run for miles and hours on end, but what it all comes down to is DIET. I have hired a coach to help me prepare for this contest, but just like any personal trainer, I only talk or see him a couple hours of my week. Who is there the rest of the time? ME! Everything you do in preparation for this contest, is up to YOU! Who will know when you want to sneak that extra serving of food? YOU! YOU are accountable for all your actions. I think this is what drove me to compete in this contest. I believe bodybuilding/dieting/competing is by far the toughest mental test anyone could put themselves through. No one understands and you will never understand the challenge until you try it for yourself, so I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE anyone who wants to challenge themselves to give it a shot. All my friends reading this, I encourage you folks even more. You have been there for me during this entire time, and nothing will give me more satisfaction than to be on your support team for your contest.

Speaking of friends, I am slowly realizing that this diet is catching up to me a bit and apologize in advance for any events that I miss or for anything mean that comes out of my mouth. To explain this feeling to people, I have used this simple explanation. Think of a time when you were starving to death, and could not eat due to some circumstance. You're stuck in traffic, your friends are late, or the restaurant is packed. How do you feel? Irritable and ready to strangle the next thing that gets in your way right? Now imagine having that feeling about 12 hours of your day. That is basically how most people feel when they are on a restricted nutrition plan aka diet. So if I say anything stupid to you, or get really upset, do not take it personal. It is not an attack on you, it is more of an outburst by me.

That is about all I can think of for now, but I'm going to do my best to keep this thing updated as I go through this process for the 1st time ever.