Would I Ever Compete??

"Why don't you compete?"

The words of my Operations Manager after he saw me asking one of our members about her show.

I blushed. And looked away, "Me!? Oh my gosh I could never."

My OM sounded shocked, "WHY!?"

My response, "Do I look stage lean?"

Image: Taylor Chamberlain at her recent show <3

Good Morning My Sweet Friends! Happy Saturday!

Today I wanted to talk about something I get asked a lot: if I would ever compete.

Many of you may know what competing is. Many of you reading this may have competed yourself. You'll understand that competing is not a joke by any means. It is truly a sport.

I have never seen anyone so dedicated to one thing. The amount of hard work and determination that goes into becoming stage lean is extraordinary. Working at Gold's Gym, the gym that was founded on body building, we have a lot of competitors at our gym. I can not express enough to you how much of a privilege it is to witness their journey from afar. Watching their bodies go through major changes in a 12-16 week prep is incredible. But is it something I would want to do?

Let me start of by saying, I have mad respect for competitors both male and female. You guys are inspiring. You show that extremes are possible.

Yet as I have been exposed to it more and more and have learned more about competing both through word of mouth and my own research, I am not sure if it is something for me.

For one, competing is expensive! Holy goodness. There's your entry fee for the show, your coach, your suit, heels, competition jewelry, tan, makeup and hair, supplements, travel costs, and even more importantly your food. But competing is not only costly in a monetary sense its costly in your time. Everything in your life revolves around you and your prep for however many weeks you are on prep. From your meals, to your training sessions, posing practice sessions, and meeting with your coach, its clock-work and a very tight schedule.

Second, competition prep is emotionally exhausting. Not only are you going to be exhausted from dieting down as you get closer and closer to your show with increased cardio, but your self-esteem can take a hit. There have been many I have heard from that have told me that competing has really altered their self-esteem. Which I can totally understand. You put so much pressure on yourself to reach this ideal body, you put in so much work to get there, then after your show your body slowly starts to change back. Your body holds more body fat and you begin to feel... different, and not in a good way. Many women and men suffer with body image issues during and after their competition prep. Which brings me to my next point...

Third, being stage lean is not healthy or ideal. You have to understand guys are getting down to less than 6% BFP on average and girl's are getting less than 15% BFP and that is extremely difficult to do. For women, many of them will lose their periods during prep. When your body starts to slow down it does what it needs to do to protect itself. Obviously, if you are not healthy enough to bare a child, your body is going to take that ability away from you... think about that for a second. Also, dieting down for long periods of time can take a toll on your metabolism which is why so many "reverse diet" once they are done with their shows.

In conclusion, and at this moment in time I do not think I am ready mentally to do a show. As a woman with a history of an eating disorder I'm not sure I am mentally strong enough to put myself through a prep. I am not sure if I am strong enough to have my body judged by complete strangers and that's ok. In all honesty, I am fascinated with competitor's and their prep life. Their sport truly is an art. As a result, I am truly flattered when people ask me why I don't compete time and time again, it is such a compliment :)

That's all for now friends. Much love! See you tomorrow for a full-day of eating post.

-xxoo Britt