Wow, fourteen months ago I was obese and I still can’t believe that two weeks ago I competed in a bikini competition after getting in shape with the best workout programs in the market. It’s no accident that I got in shape with P90X, RevAbs and Insanity, yes they work, yes, I’m proof that they do. It almost seems unreal that little me, who was obese in May of 2010 lost all this weight and got in shape to the point that I somehow decided I wanted to compete and did it. I didn’t place but I honestly don’t care that I didn’t place, that was not my goal. When I was preparing for my first marathon, my goal was to complete it, so you could actually compare my preparation and competition as my personal marathon. My goal was to complete the training and stand up on that stage. Yes, it would have been AMAZING to place, but hey, getting on that stage alone was an incredible feat considering where I was last year so I feel accomplished and very, very proud of what I was able to do in such a short period of time.
This has been no kidding the most amazing personal experience ever, I can actually place it next to jumping out of a plane with a parachute (dad, if you’re reading this I don’t mean to freak you out and I promise I won’t do it again) 🙂 I arrived to the competition place expecting to find a lot of catty women, on the contrary, they were pretty awesome, supportive and helpful. I loved that they were there for me even when they didn’t know who I was and I was not part of any team there. I think we all knew how hard we had worked to get there so there was a level of respect that I have not experienced among women, it was a sisterhood and I loved it. As i got ready to go on that stage, these women cheered me on, encouraged me and told me “you’ll be great” and when I was done, they cheered me again and said what a great job I had done.
I was pretty calm until I had to walk on that stage, then it all hit me at once and I got a bit nervous… but then as the audience was silent… I heard my little girl yelling “YAAAY MOMMY!” and when it was my turn to pose she yelled: “GO MOMMY! GO MOMMY! GO MOMMY!” I remembered that I was not there by myself and that my daughter and my hubby were cheering for me from the audience. Joseph said that a few people chuckled at how cute my daughter was, she was the only child who did that 🙂
Once the competition was over, I felt pretty tired, burned out and exhausted. The first week after the competition was brutal. I wasn’t working out because my body needed rest more than anything. Quite honestly, I trained non-stop for five months with one rest day/week to reach my goal… you BET I was tired! So I took a break for a week and that week turned into two weeks. Yes, as shocking as it seems, I have NOT worked out for two whole weeks and I have been pretty good with my diet except for the pizza I had that made me sick this past week. I think my body was telling me NOOOOOOOOO!! DON’T EAT THAT PIZZA! 😛 After losing one night of sleep (I won’t go into details) I can honestly say, lesson learned, my body just does not like that amount of greasy stuff and salt.
What seems incredible to me is that this all started with P90X. After completing the first 90 days and seeing my results I could tell that I had found something that truly worked, but I never thought that I would get into the shape I am now, at 43, after having a child! It all started with a comment from my hubby saying “I have seen this infomercial and I’d like to get P90X” and then I wrote a question to a Facebook friend at the time who later became my coach “Does P90X really work?” The truth is that once I saw my results, I had to keep going, pushing play and digging deeper. We bought RevAbs and then Insanity and here I was, getting ready to be on that stage after only 14 months of beginning my fitness journey.
So what now? My biggest fear quite honestly has been reverting to how awful I felt a year ago. I honestly don’t want to go back to that. I had no energy to play with Angelina and it felt awful. I never, ever, ever (did I say NEVER?) want to go back to that! So here I am, going into a maintenance plan, working out with Joseph and doing another round of P90X and then Asylum while P90X2 gets released. My diet is not as restricted, although I’m still eating clean (which means non-processed foods, no TV dinners and nothing that contains ingredients that I cannot pronounce.)Â My goal for next year is to get the posing down to a “T”, more confident on that stage and come home with a trophy, that’s my personal goal. My professional goal is to help as many people as possible reach their fitness goals.
Maybe your personal goal is not to compete, maybe it’s just to feel more attractive to your hubby, or maybe it’s to fit into that beautiful dress that you have saved. I can tell you for sure, that If I could lose weight and get in shape, so can you. If you don’t know where to start, let me know and I will guide you and coach you for FREE. Send me a message for details or look me up at http://www.facebook.com/ExceptionalFitness