In fact, most people won't.
As I walked to a meeting in the conference room at work a few minutes ago, a couple of my co-workers commented on my weight loss, with one even saying he thought I looked scrawny. This comment really gave me pause, as I am nowhere near scrawny. Leaning out? Yes. But at a solid size 10/12 and 165 pounds (at 5'3"), I am far from scrawny. In fact, my BMI (which I have shared before about my opinion of this...), is still sitting at a whopping 29.2 - which is only 0.8 away from obese. Which really made me think of how there are many misconceptions about all of this.
Will there come a point when I will look scrawny to most people? Absolutely. At least in clothes. I will also look gaunt in the face, making me appear older than when I have more body fat on me. That may sound weird, but on a stage with a posing suit, lights, tan and elevation, every single body fat percentage shows. One body fat % can mean covering muscle definition that can set you apart from other competitors. This is a reality of doing a figure/physique/body building competition.
Issues with eating are a huge issue in this industry, but there is a way of doing it that can be healthier. I haven't entered into this without giving it a lot of thought. I have considered that I will not only need to have a plan to prepare for the competition, but I will also have to have a plan for metabolic recovery after the competition. This is a reality of the sport, and where a lot of people get themselves in trouble is either by not planning or by not following their plan. I intend to do both, plan and follow the plan, as the alternative is to put on an extreme amount of weight in a short period of time following competition, which I definitely don't want to do.
The truth of this is that it is a huge commitment of time and energy. We have been out of town 2 of the last 3 weekends and will be out of town again this coming weekend. We have bought a huge cooler to accomodate the fact that I need to bring all of my own food. Given that we will be on the road for 8+ hours, I will have to cover 3-4 meals in that time frame, so we will need to stop at truck stops, where I can heat up my food. Stopping and eating on the fly somewhere just isn't an option. Neither is Starbucks (another thing we do a lot on the road) or candy (to deal with boredom in the car). Neither is skipping workouts while we are out-of-town - even when we have a jam packed schedule full of family and events. If it sounds like a lot of work, it is.
But the real difficult part isn't traveling out of town...or carrying our own food...or timing my meals. Believe it or not, being at home, in my day to day schedule - for day after day, week after week, and what will be month after month - is harder. It's hard not to be able to schedule an afternoon get-together with a friend or lunch with someone because I work through lunch and then hit the gym after work. It's hard to tell to people that I don't eat at restaurants - or what they are cooking. It's hard not to ever compromise. Not because I am not committed, but because people don't understand.
Which is the point of this post. People just don't understand. It is it's own form of insanity. It's not compromising, not making any excuses, not accepting any reasons for not doing it. I can think of so many areas of my life that this is the status quo for success - sobriety, marriage, parenting, work - and people understand. This is no less a choice than those. Not anymore than the person who rides, who is out training day after day. Not anymore than the person who is training for a marathon, who is out training day after day. Not anymore than the person who is training with a team sport, who is out training day after day. But for some reason, this is different. People just don't understand.
The amazing thing about this is...it doesn't matter if people don't understand. I am not doing this for other people. I'm not doing this to prove anything or to try to be the best (although I do want to win...who wouldn't?). I am doing this for me. I am excited. And, although at first I doubted this could be accomplished (doubts that came from months of diligent diet and exercise with no results), I am now convinced it can. And I am motivated to do well...to challenge myself...to mold and change my body...to address the issues it brings up and to grow as a person from it all...to accomplish something I have wanted to do for a long time, but have not done. And to do it in a way that I can be at peace with.
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