Sure, from the outside it looks totally glamorous. And in reality, certain aspects are in fact, as glamorous as they appear but most certainly not all.
When you see a competitor prepare to hit the stage you can see many things: you can see their beautiful suit that shows off their "perfect" physique, you can see the over-the-top hair and makeup and the sparkly jewelry that pulls the whole look together, you may even see the confidence that she exudes when performing on stage. You may see these things and think how fantastic the whole "competition thing" is but what you won't see are the many nights she wanted to throw in the towel, the hours of cardio she pushed herself to finish when all she wanted to do was throw on sweats and watch tv. You won't see the thought and dedication that went into her meal preps or how many party invitations she turned down bc she had her sights set on something bigger and the countless hours she spent practicing her posing won't be tattooed to her forehead. You will never know the mental struggles they overcame. Those details are only known by the person who's enduring them. This is where the gold is. It's the whole reason for competing. It's proving to yourself that you're stronger than you think. It's proof that you can commit to yourself even when things get ugly. Especially when things get ugly.
Being able to walk across the stage is the cherry on top of the journey. It's a competitors moment to show the world that despite all the difficulties, all the crap, and all the exhaustion, they're able to stand poised, proud and with a huge damn smile on their face. Yes-the stage can feel incredibly glamorous but it's only a few short minutes compared to the hours, months or even years of hard, mentally emotionally and physically taxing work that they put into their bodies and into their craft. It's a few minutes of glory that simply says to the world that you didn't give up and you didn't quit on yourself. It's a moment that, if achieved, can change your life forever.
So often I'm asked by people around me how I'm able to just "not drink" when I go out some where or not over indulge on a piece of cake. This question used to make me feel superficial, like I was giving up life experiences with friends in pursuit of my idea of the "perfect body". I used to try to motivate them through my answers by explaining how rewarding it feels to make positive decisions for your body blah blah blahh. This is plain CRAP! Why is it that today it is so common for "bad behavior" to be encouraged (ie: eating terribly unhealthy food and writing it off as a life indulgence or drinking too much alcohol and justifying it with something as lame as YOLO) but when someone decides to make a positive change like cutting out processed foods or watching sugar intake then all of sudden everyone's got an opinion?
I was constantly being accused of being unhealthy bc I was on the 'thinner side' or that I was being extreme because I drank a gallon of water a day! The craziest were the comments I received about me "over exerting" myself in the gym. What the what?! Why did I let these people ever get to me??
I seriously used to contemplate if they had a point, if maybe I did need more balance and normalcy in my life. Then I realized that is was far more simple than than that. The truth is....I pass on the cake and the alcohol and bust my ass in the gym instead because very simply put; I want to perfect my physique more than I want to quit. I want to push harder more than I want to be average. I want to excel more than I want to be complacent.
When I was finally able to know this in my heart I was never afraid of the critics. Society today is complacent with mediocrity. If I don't do anything else in my lifetime I hope that I can encourage one person to stop worrying about the opinions of others and to start doing THEM. To do what makes them happy and to say f**k the ones who tell you you can't. F**k the ones who tell you how hard it will be and do what you want to do. Because after all...a lion never loses sleep over the opinions of sheep.
Today and everyday for that matter...I challenge you to be a lion, don't be a sheep 👊
