Competing Can be a Lonely Road but There's a Deeper Reason we Love It

Competing can be a lonely road...

You wake up for fasted cardio before anyone else, getting ready in front of the mirror checking to see if you are making the progress you have been eating and training hard for.

You put your hoodie and headphones on to get to the gym for the corner stair master or treadmill before anyone else does, you have your headphones in and get into an state of zen and determination all in one.

You go the extra minute because you don't want to leave anything on the table.

You're sweating, tired, as you stretch with a growling stomach that's only thinking about your next meal, probably oats and egg whites again.

You wave goodbye to a few people at the gym but get home in a hurry for your meal, when you arrive you make your own food, eat it either by yourself or with others but it's not what they are having.

The day continues and with your Tupperware in hand everyone looks at you like you must be a little different, strange, or trying to diet.

Okay, maybe you have done this a few times and they are used to you but no one wants the office, gym, or wherever you work smelling like your fish or chicken and veg so you step outside, eat on the bench by yourself, and get your work done.

You skip out on the party or the bar or dinner out because your next priority is the gym and sleep, or quality time with loved ones on top of all of this.

You get ready to go, fillin the shaker cups, takin the supps, gettin dressed again, and sometimes even eating chicken out of a ziploc bag in the car, it's time to go back to the gym.

You hit every rep with intention with limited to no time for distraction, and you have that get it done mindset, hoping nobody tries to take the machines you have tagged without asking you, or starts talking to you mid set.

You isolate with headphones, hats, or limited eye contact.

You're so fatigued now, you can barely even hold yourself up but you know you aren't going to skip your posing practice. So you have some protein and go to the back room with the mirrors or head home to your posing spot.

You slide your heels onto your sore feet and go until you have hit every pose, feel it without having to see it, and now your back hurts.

Time is passing and you need your post-workout meal and a shower before you run out of fuel in your own tank to get home or make that happen.

Again, everyone's either already eaten, asleep, or you are just in this on your own anyways.

You toss the prepped and measured food in and heat it up, sometimes you just eat it cold.

You are still hungry. But this is prep, you chose this, so you don't complain, you want this, and you know that hunger is a small part of the bigger picture.

You head to your bathroom to shower and you're not even sure if you should wash your hair because you wake up in 6-8 hours to do it again. But you got so sweaty, you just have to.

You are so exhausted, you can't even think about doing anything but sleeping but you gotta chug the last bit of your water first. And it's downstairs, which seems like a trek from where you are.

As you wind down for the night your thoughts wander of if your body is where it needs to be, or you are proud for how much you have been killing it and now you can't stop dreaming of stepping on the stage.

You get into a positive state of visualization and get excited for the next day to do it again.

As the countdown to the stage gets shorter, the hours in the day that you are hungry, tired, sore, and fatigued seem to get longer.

But champions don't quit, they take it beyond the limit.

So you get your ass up and do it again the next day, without question, without fail, because you love this.

Many people say this sport is lonely, and it absolutely can be and is at times.
We get misunderstood.
We turndown invites or we go and bring our own food or leave early and people wonder how we can still have fun...
We don't know many people who get it but we hold tight to those who do and luckily the ones who support us are incredibly understanding and motivating.

But the beautiful thing about all of it? That I know any competitor reading this was thinking the whole time...

We Thrive On This

Most of us thrive on this time alone.
We thrive on the deep connection we can establish with ourselves.
We thrive knowing that we are pursuing our goals and not letting anything stop us.
We thrive on the challenge, the hunger, the wins, the defeat.
We thrive knowing that we didn't come here just to look a certain way, win a medal, earn a title.
We thrive because this is one of the only things we can do for ourselves day in and day out.

We came for ourselves.
We came here to develop beyond our physical bodies.
We came here to fulfill an inner purpose, dream, or goal that beautifully morphs into a physical transcendence, a representation, not just of the work we do but the people we are.
We may not be understood by most, but we are understood by the few who truly know.

How do we make this even better?
We connect with the people who get it, through social media, groups, teams and programs.
We connect with brands, companies, and other athletes. 

This is a big reason why I started my podcast, "Confessions of a Bikini Pro"
That led me to have some major realizations and shifts in my own business and brand.

My mission has always been to help others to Build More than Just a Body, but I never would have thought I would bring my principles for self-love, confidence, mindset, well-being, personal development, and the alignment of inner work with physical results to bodybuilders. but here I am.

I launched my post-show personal development program and continuing to expand in this space. It feels right for me because I live and breathe this not only on the personal development tools I teach to help people mend their relationship with themselves, their body, and food but also the competition lifestyle itself.

I share this today because if you know, or are, someone who could benefit from hearing from the pros on my podcast, or connecting with other competitors and mending your own relationship to food, yourself and your body, then I would love to connect with them, or of course if this is you, YOU! 

Let's start here:

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

GAIN ACCESS TO MY FREE COACHING SERIES FOR POST-SHOW PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

ENROLL IN MY 8 WEEK POST-SHOW PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AND NEVER EXPERIENCE THE POST-SHOW BLUES AGAIN!

SIGN UP FOR A 10 MIN BREAKTHROUGH SESSION WITH ME

Got any feedback or things you want me to make content on or share? Please contact me and let me know so I can help you out, I am here to help competitors build more than just a body, I would love to help you :)

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