What is a figure competition?

That is what I asked when my dear friend told me she was doing one a few years ago. This is how I’d describe it. In figure competing women walk in 5″ clear heels on stage wearing silly sparkly bikinis and ridiculous looking one pieces while being judged on their muscularity and symmetry. (Of course, lots of girls love the suits. I DO NOT. It’s the MILE HIGH cut legs, they just look soooooo 1987 to me. But I’m a hipster-boy-short-kind-of-chick. Whatever.) Figure competitions appeal to women who want to build muscle but don’t necessarily want the muscle mass of body builder. This is about all I know about it. I know their are standards of judging but since I’m competing to lose I don’t really care what they are. And from what I can tell the standards change from show to show or judge to judge.

Why would a woman want to stand of a stage and have her body be judged. I’m still trying to figure that out!! For me, it’s not about wanting to be judged.  In fact, that scares the crap out of me but it has gotten me motivated.  Motivation and discipline is what I was lacking to get in the best shape of my life. I actually think this is why a lot of women compete.  Of course, some do really well and become a pro.  That is not part of my plans.  It’s for fun.  I mean who doesn’t find a walking on stage in a swimsuit that’s so small you have to GLUE it to your bottom “FUN”!   But I do think it will be rewarding and the lessons I’m learning are invaluable.  Which is ultimately why I decided to do this.  And I still have a few more months so I’m eager to learn more about myself and who God created me to be.  Not “be” in the physical sense but mental.

For a long time, I’ve struggled with self-discipline because I set the bar too high and then feel like a failure and give up when I can’t achieve it.  But there is an inner voice that urges me to keep going despite disappointments and setbacks. This time I’m setting the bar low.  All I want to do is LOSE and anything else will be icing on the cake.   Mmmmm….cake.

xoxo
j