My first blog...How exciting!!!! (8 weeks and 4 days til judgement day)

Yea I will be honest, as a kid my favorite class was always P.E. and I enjoyed every minute of rushing to soccer practice from basketball and then making it in time for the first pitch at softball. However being in a gym full of dumbbells and squat racks, my ipod on full blast, sleeves long gone off my t-shirt, is what really gets me going now. This love affair is nothing new. One of the earliest memories I have of being around weights is in my dads basement. He had a nice old school little set up, a bench, a bar and some dumbbells. I vividly remember being down there when I shouldn't have been and dropping one of his 5lb weights on my foot. I was so scared I was going to get in trouble I never said anything and kept my black and blue toenail to myself. But this did not keep me away. I became a sponge. Any piece of information regarding strength training that I read or heard or saw, I stored. Yeah...I agree this is a slightly uncommon hobby for a young female, but I come from a long line of equally freakish family members who were also beckoned by the clangs and clamors of metal weights coming from the basement. Nature or nurture? Both. This shit runs in my blood. I didn't pick it, it picked me. It finally occurred to me, why not take my passion to the next level? Why not make it more than a hobby? That is exactly what this summer is all about for me.

So now that you know a little about me, I am going to share with you what exactly a "figure competitor is." Fitness and figure competition is an event class for women. Unlike female bodybuilding, it emphasizes muscle tone over muscle size. Don't worry, there is no need for steroids! Each competitor appears on stage in high-heeled shoes and a two piece swimsuit. They line up in a side-by-side line that faces the judges. They execute a series of quarter-turns to the right and the judges view and compare them from all sides for symmetry, presentation, and other aesthetic qualities such as skin tone, hair, make-up, and stylishness of clothing. Basically, they are looking for conditioning, leanness, and how "feminine" and "athletic" your muscularity is.

When I first thought of competing in figure, I thought how hard could it be? I thought..hmmm I am already pretty disciplined with what I eat and how hard I train. Currently, I am two weeks and 3 days deep into training and I can tell you I was dead wrong. Stay tuned and I will share with you my meal, my workouts, and my bouts of success and failures along my way to the stage...oh did I mention that my 50 year old mother is also competing in the same show?