11/21/2013
I’m top posting this on my site AFTER I was in contest prep and training season earlier this year. I started this nearly a year ago and today I’m in a solid building season, getting back on the stage in June of 2014. This post was written in my early days of contest prep for my 2013 season, my first season in bodybuilding. You can follow that whole journey, journaled weekly for 19 weeks on that link HERE! I repost this now because this is the time of year we all tend to rethink our ways, pick out a crazy goal and go for what scares us. Maybe my story will inspire you to do something you’ve never done before either!
Original post written December 10, 2012
I’m a girl on a mission! I am getting uncomfortable and working a plan to train for and compete in my first ever ever Figure Competition in Indy! The show date is 4.13.13 and this is my story and my journey to the stage. Watch this ongoing post as I add my progress pictures to it weekly and talk about the good, the bad, and the awesome on my way to the big day! Go.for.what.scares.you!
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By age 35, I had had 4 pregnancies and one miscarriage in six year’s time. Bringing home my 4th child on my 35th birthday (right picture) was the start of an incredible, yet challenging journey. At his birth, I was 225 pounds in my 5’7″ frame. During my pregnancies, if I saw it, I ate it. I had the mindset of “I’ll eat what I want now and worry about it later.” Well, later showed up and I had to deal with the consequences of my (then) poor habits.
June 2010, 165 lbs
I surrounded myself with like-minded friends and took classes at the Fishers Y. Sloooooowly but surely, the weight came off. Soon after this picture, I gave up dairy, red meat and processed foods. From there, 20 pounds fell off (no lie!) in the next 4 months!
October 2010: 145 pounds
I put one foot in front of the other and took off 80 pounds in the first year. Weight Watchers was my tool and consistency was my secret! I set a goal to get me back and had the motto of “Take care of you so you can take care of others.” I still live by that…daily!
Left: April 2010; Right: April 2012; 137 pounds; Body fat unknown…probably 22%
By April 2012, I had made many tweaks to my diet and fitness routine, landing on eating six times daily and following Pauline Nordin’s Fighter Diet plan of lean meats, veggies, and healthy fats. As she says, “It’s extreme, but so are the results!” I was also doing less and less cardio and MORE and MORE (heavy) weights!
130 pounds; 20% body fat
I won $1000 from Team Beachbody for entering their Shakeology Challenge and was the February 2012 winner. I used that money to buy new workout shoes, a 10-pack of hot yoga sessions, and my first ever personal training 10-pack. I met my trainer Jackie at the Y and we set our mission in motion. By June 2012 I had decided to compete in September of that year. I’m a General Contractor and I took on our biggest renovation yet. I did a $100,000 renovation in 4 weeks to our personal home and quickly realized getting to the stage 12 weeks later was very unrealistic when paired with my current housing project and ALL four kids home for summer break. Off to Plan B!
In October of 2012, the house was done (see that renovation project HERE!) and I set a goal to hit the stage in 2013. But, one, ok a few things had to happen. I had MAJOR loose skin on my abs from all the babies. My present to myself and a gift from my husband was a “Mommy Makeover”. I met with a local doctor and had my surgeries on 11.2.12. He removed a pound of loose skin off my lower abs, not touching any of the fat (that’s my job!). I sat out on the sidelines recovering for six weeks with little to no cardio (some walking) and NO lifting. In that time, I held my weight at 136-138 and dropped my body fat to 15.5%. I give credit to a clean diet for that one (I can’t say that enough). I knew if I wasn’t active in the gym on my usual routine, my diet had to be tight! But, in that time I felt I went flat on my muscles (that will happen!). My clothes fit fine, but some of my cut was gone.
Left: presurgery…I didn’t mind my stripes of pride (stretch marks), but the loose skin was disgusting to me. No diet or workout routine was going to change that issue.
Right: 3 weeks post op…still a little swollen.
The stomach skin will take 3-6 months to completely redrape to my ab muscles and my surgery scar is hidden in this shot.
So as we head into 2013, my family is my life! They are why I need to take care of myself…so I can be there for them and for their children. I’m thankful for my husband’s support in this season of my interests and also for the healthy lifestyle and tidbits that I am able to model for my precious blondies!
Thank you my family……I promise to make you proud!
Now, this is where the competition prep documentation begins! I’ve been interested in “bodybuilding” since my late teens and have always been competitive by nature. Wikipedia describes Figure as: a more feminine division of bodybuilding emphasizing muscle tone versus muscle size. Now that I’m finished having babies and I’ve gotten my body back, I can learn more about the sport of Figure and focus on building a better body each and every day!
I’m following Fighter Diet’s “Contest Prep” eating plan and following the lifting plan of my trainer Jackie at the Fishers Y, who competed for five seasons in Indiana and Ohio a few years back. I’m not waiting until I’m perfect for the stage, but I’m realistic about what I need to get accomplished in order to bring a great package to the show and with that, I’m following their lead in order to get results!
(As of 11/13, I’m no longer on this plan or with a trainer; I have a Coach now and all is very different)
-Stay Up With The Ongoing Posts Below-
-Mindy
Questions? Email Mindy Here!
Mindy’s First Show Date:
Saturday, April 13, 2013
NPC Indiana’s “Natural Indiana” Show
Maddam Walker Theatre, Indy
[…] and reshape my body and the skin below my belly button looked like that of a 90-year-old woman. (See my pre-surgery pictures here!) I hated it and it became such a negative, draining focal point to me and was something so ugly on […]