Challenging Myself

I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that I love being active and challenging myself. Well this is taking it to another level!

Well, I've decided and started training for a bikini competition. The show is in April. I thought about this long and hard and after all the contemplating and doubting, it really boiled down to why not?

This wasn't out of the blue at all. It's been on my mind for a few years now but it was reignited when my friend Megan (she and I became good friends after Wellness at Gensler program where she was my personal trainer for 12 weeks) said that she wanted to do a fitness competition. It was always on the bucket list. I encouraged her and told her that I would do the workouts with her and will support her. She and I worked out together every day and we did food prep Sundays at our house. Then we moved to Denver.

I joined a gym in Denver (www.gym303.com) and was inspired by all the athletes around me. I talked to a few of the athletes and told me how much they love competing but  not as much as the journey and that if I ever decide to do it, I'm in the right place to do so for coaching, motivation and support. I thought about it for a couple of months and one day after talking to Megan, I told her that I would do it as well.

The following week, I talked to Chris (owner of the gym and an IFBB Pro) and he said that if I'm committed, he will help me get there. Since he's extremely busy with owning two gyms and competing, he recommended that I train with one of his trainers Yoko (who's also a Figure IFBB Pro). Last week, was my first day of training.

Chris and Yoko, wrote a training plan for me and we're going to meet every week to take progress pictures and measurements and see if we need to make any adjustments to my plan. I will be working out on my own for the most part and I will have one work out session a week with Yoko. Chris will be overlooking my progress as well.

Yoko and I had a great conversation from the very beginning. She said that we will make sure that I enjoy the journey and slowly build my body to the best that it can be naturally. We don't want to shock it or anything. She was very honest and frank. She made sure that I knew that what we have to do to get me there is very simple yet very hard. I need to make sure that I look at the positive and make the journey as memorable (in a good way) as possible. She encouraged me to keep a journal of my journey. So here it I go!

Yoko and I (after kicking my ass)