Rushing to the Dessert Table After Finals?

​Have you seen it too?

Competitors Immediately going to the dessert table or digging into the bag of treats after finals?

Girls posting food or the first bite of a donut before they even acknowledge the way the day went?

Coaches standing backstage with their girls biting into huge cookies with them or teammates putting piles of accumulated treats together to all share?

Maybe this has been you?

Looking forward to that post-show cookie for weeks

Dreaming about what the promoter will have backstage or hoping your friends surprise you with treats

Maybe you’ve immediately taken a photo with your trophy while holding a piece of cake

Or you’ve packed a big bag of treats to have after the show to pick from like a kid on Halloween

Trust me, I get it. I’ve been there, done that

But the shows I’ve not done this at, were the shows I felt so much more connected to MYSELF & the JOURNEY

Because my mind wasn’t fixated on what I could fit in my mouth right after I got off stage

The show days where I left thinking “I don’t really care what’s for dinner” or “I just want to go home & shower” or “I just want to celebrate this & have one nice meal with my loved ones” were the best

Because every time I dove into the treats immediately, It wasn’t out of the decision to eat because I needed food & was hungry

It was out of this feeling of finally satisfying what felt like an indulgence into freedom or fantasies

When in reality, it had always been my choice. To eat the plan I was given, to do a prep, to compete

& it damn sure wasn’t so I could obsess about eating a donut after

That’s not why we get into competing but it so quickly can become ones’ focus

Fixating on foods you can’t have or fit into your macros or your Coach has eliminated because “soon” you’ll “be able to have them”
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It is NOT healthy
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Calysta Upperman inspired this post today. We had a podcast interview a few months back on “Confessions of a Bikini Pro” touching on this and since then we have chatted and vented about it expressing our concerns and raising awareness to our audiences

Since the work I do with competitors is heavily focused on their relationship with food, I pick up on a lot of these self-destructive thought patterns & behaviors quickly

If you’re looking forward to the food more than you are the achievement, there’s an underlying issue that is more important to address than stepping on any stage

You will get there! But don’t do it at the cost of allllll the commitments you’ve made your entire prep

Yes, enjoy, indulge, and savor the moments after your show

But don’t allow that to be your free pass to binge

If it is, then again, there’s an underlying issue and it is going to rear its ugly head if you don’t get ahead of it

I know this may seem like a rougher love nudge from me than usual, but it’s serious and important and chatting with Calysta gets me even more fired up about it!

If you’re struggling with this or have been struggling with your relationship with food post-show or throughout your prep, send me a message. Let’s see if or how we can work together through this

It could make all the difference in the way you feel about yourself, develop your physique, and create a lifestyle out of this

Lots of love 💓💓💓

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