The Super SABBA Week events were a success! I did not win or place first, but I had an awesome time nonetheless. The week was busy and filled with fun things: Photoshoot with the great Glen Grant on Tuesday, IFM Search on Friday and then Provincial Prejudge, IFM Search Finals and Provincial Finals all on Saturday. I was lucky again to get asked to shoot with a Photography company I haven't shot with yet: Pink Elephant Photography. I had seen their work and was excited to say yes!!! So added to a busy week was a busy Sunday of prepparing for the photoshoot. !
In the months leading up to a show, the busyness of training, cardio, tanning, food prep, primping, posing and the list goes on...consumes a competitor before stepping on stage. Then the week of the competition arrives and you are consumed with photoshoots, tan application, mental preparation...then your final moment comes to step on that stage! All your hard work is displayed, judged, strutted. That moment is one that cannot be explained. The high that comes from proving all your hard work is untouchable. So what happens when you step off of the stage?
This competition I did not place well enough to qualify me for Nationals. For the first time since beginning this competition journey I actually dreaded answering the inevitable question of 'What's next?'
Regardless of your placing in a show, the week following a competition leaves a lot of competitors wondering, what's next? What happens on Monday if you don't HAVE to go to the gym? What happens when you no longer have to shlep your tupperware with you everywhere you go? What happens when no one cares if you eat the whole pizza, followed by a tub of ice cream?...You get the idea.
Only you can decide what's next. If competing is something you did just to prove that you could, if the fact that you stepped on stage and did it is good enough, that is absolutely fine. It is an awesome accomplishment and one that will be looked back at and celebrated for years to come. However, this is not something I can cross off of my bucket list just yet.
I think it's great to take a few days off from the gym, maybe go in and train with no purpose! I think it's great to eat chocolate for supper and cake for dessert. But do this for a couple days, and the fit competitor in you will soon get bored of not having a plan, of having no energy and of feeling frumpy.
I recommend continuing to live your healthiest lifestyle whether there is a competition in your future or not. Continue to train your heart out because that's why you decided to do a competition in the first place! Continue to never leave your house without at least 2 meals in your bag everywhere you go! I recommend using the valuable knowledge you have gained from the past months of training. Competition prep teaches you a lot about yourself. You find out what fuels you and become mentally stronger than you ever thought possible. You can now use these principles and do what will help you be the best you every day whether you have to be on stage in a bikini or not.
I definately had my eye on the prize and when the 2012 National stage was no longer an option for me, I lost my focus. I was directionless for the first time in a long time. But then my trainers, my family and most of all, Brett assured me that life was not over as I knew it...that I get to choose what's next!! I love this life and all of the opportunities that have come with it. My choice is to not let a defeat, defeat me as a competitor. Regardless of my placing, I will always strive to be better and to continue improving. This life has changed who I am as a person and I choose to continue living the bikini lifestyle for years to come. This is still so early in the game and I've accomplished a lot in this past year. There is so much more out there that I don't even know possible yet. I'm so happy with how far i've come thus far and now I just need to relax and continue working my smartest (and hardest) to get ready for whatever is next!
See you in the gym!
Holly
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