Improvement Season Body Image Struggles

During prep, you will usually start to see a trend of getting leaner, tighter, and smaller, as you get closer to your show day which then creates this association between heels, bikini, and check ins with looking tighter and smaller

In an off season you might check in or practice posing and think, "Oh my god, I don't look good at all. I don't look like a competitor. I look like a normal person just putting on a bikini and trying to pose. I don’t even look like I workout” and even though these things are probably not factual, the way it feels is so real!

I want you to know it's normal to have these emotional reactions given that you've been conditioned to see your body going smaller, getting tighter it’s natural to then feel a bit shocked when the opposite becomes true even if you’re “expecting it” because 94/100 of the last times you’ve checked in you’ve been getting leaner so now those 6 since your reverse or improvement season started are like the odd balls out and it can take time to get comfortable with the subtle growth that begins to happen

You’re not broken for thinking this way, it actually makes perfect sense why you would be!

There’s a lot more to this that I’ve discussed before too like positive reinforcements with the scale or measurements changing that we have to be mindful of too

But in this case, you need to become open to forming new associations in the environment of check-ins and posing, recognizing that even in off-season, when your body is getting bigger, you are still a competitor.

If anything, you’re even more of a bodybuilder because you’re committing to BUILDING, growing and improving while knowing you’ll have to go through a prep again in the future to reveal it all. Even if you’re not trying to build muscle it’s important to find homeostasis and give the body and mind rest so you can come back and strike!

if you obsess over getting “too fat” or “too big” or “too heavy” you could be inhibiting your potential

You're in a new phase, a growing season, which is an important part of the process, and your progress will be evident tin the future when you are doing your check-ins for another prep if you can get comfortable with all phases and see they’re ALL valuable and ALL serve a purpose

If you really are being diligent and doing your best, you're gonna be okay and you're gonna form a new association with your body and check-ins with consistency (not from avoiding anything!)
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Having a positive body image will support you in treating your body (and yourself) positively which ultimately fuels your progress more than anything!

I encourage you to join the Build More than Just a Body community by becoming a member of my On Demand Mindset coaching platform that covers common struggles of competitors at your fingertips!

you can learn more and join now here: www.celestial.fit/ondemand